


Whispers and Lies

by Wisdo101



Category: 2ptalia - Fandom, Hetalia: Axis Powers, OCs - Fandom
Genre: Magic, Magic AU, Multi, fanasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-03 14:38:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wisdo101/pseuds/Wisdo101
Summary: Magic is banned from a prominent kingdom and for good reason too - but when the prince finds out he has it, he is left on his own to figure it out until he finally leaves home to seek out a proper teacher. A teacher who isn't too thrilled about taking on a new apprentice but does it to get the prince off his back. As the two learn about each other, they find out that their home is not as perfect as it seems and the two of them having to make a tough chose about the other.





	1. Stories

**_Yashil was the epitome of a happy country – with its rich farm land, vast forests, and massive mountains. It lived up to the name “Country of Dreams” because it provided everything for anyone who wanted a good life. In the center of the country, was the kingdom of Shesten, where everything and everyone resided. Trades, markets, guests, celebrations – Shesten was the place that had it all with many people leaving with a good story to tell. What kept this place looking grand was magic; for nearly 250 years, mages banded together to keep Shesten a shiny beacon for everyone who stayed there. Why did so many agree to this? It was because before they arrived, Yashil’s creatures would terrorize farmers or the causal traveler. King Vasil at the time was at lost until a few mages came to him, offering their help to ward off many of these creatures. The king took the offer and within a month, Shesten was safe with its new magic guards._ **

**_For 3 generations, anyone from a mages family were able to join the royal mage academy that was built to train them. Everyone lived happily until one day, Vasil’s great grandson, Allister, the current king at this time, wanted change. He believed that the mages and magicians of his time weren’t doing enough to protect his kingdom and country. He wanted to find ways to use magic as a weapon, something many of his people didn’t want. Repeatedly he would ask the mage elders for this, with the same refusal – the more they refused, the more Allister began to hate anything magical. The king finally decided on one rule that would change Shesten; no magic was to be used anywhere in his kingdom! Once the ruling was out, there was a sweep of guards going and finding everyone suspected of magic. They were to be cast out and anyone who tried to fight back, were either arrested or killed.  Families were separated, people who lived there all their lives were forced to leave and biggest thing that happened was the burning of the academy. Allister refused to have anything that reminded him of magic in his kingdom._ **

**_It was a dark turn Shesten with many people unsure if their home would remain as beautiful as it was before.  After Allister died, his son Allister the 2 nd, took over and people had some hope when he denounced his father’s rule, allowing mages to return but under strict rule that they would register under the royal guard. This meant anyone who lived in Shesten who had magic, were ‘on hold’ guards in case of attacks from enemies or creatures. Many mages refused this, but some returned and agreed to it just to be with their families once again. Allister the 2nd turned out to be worse than his father at such a young age. Being just 24, he already made restrictions for his people; he wanted to go back to how Shesten worked before any magic. With changes to his home, Shesten and Yasil flourished without the need of constant magic. This made many people decide that magic wasn’t needed and grow a distaste for it. What was once something to be admired, was now something that was disgusted. By the time he was 30, Allister the 2nd made his kingdom safe without the use of mages. By the time of Allister’s death, the people long forgot about any magic use and carried on without it. When his son Allister the 3rd came to the throne, he enforced the laws his father and grandfather placed. Mages were still around but the magic once used to shape Shesten was a distant memory. _ **

**_Even now, there are mages living in Yasil, but in the kingdom, only the king’s few magic guards can stay in Shesten with their own restrictions. Each of them vowing to be at the king’s call whenever they are ne-_ **

“Mama, what happened to the mages though?” A young boy of 8, who was sitting on the floor looking up at the woman who stopped reading her book. The woman blinked then sighed with a small smile, “Oliver, sweetie, why do you ask such a question?”  The little boy looked at his fingers and fiddled with a button his shirt, “Umm…well, it sounds kind of mean to the magic people…”

A scoff came from another boy who sat in a nearby seat, his emerald eyes full of annoyance as he glanced at his brother. “Don’t be stupid, it wasn’t mean! Didn’t you hear the part where they refused a king’s order? Great grandpa was right to kick them out for doing that!” Oliver snapped at his brother, “I’m not stupid! It was mean to the magic people who were living here!” The green-eyed boy stood up and walked over to the younger boy, folding his arms as he spoke, “Only stupid people believe that! So that makes you stupid as well!” Oliver stood up and glared up at his brother, “I’m not stupid! You’re stupid!” The two boys began to argue until their mother stood up and snapped at them both, “Arthur! Oliver! Stop this ridiculous fighting!” The two of them stopped with both turning away from each other but glancing at each other and sticking their tongue’s out. Their mother sighed and lowered her voice, “Now, I want you to apologize to each other. As princes, you need to set a good example for everyone and it starts right here with you two.”

Arthur groaned and pouted, “Fine…sorry for calling Oliver stupid.”

Oliver refused to say anything until his mom gave him a look, “…sorry…”

“Good now shake hands and be done with it.” Their mother asked, watching as the two boys shook hands, perking up when the door opened. Allister the 3rd came walking in, chuckling at the site of them shaking hands, “What have you two been up to now? Are you giving you mother trouble again?” The boys ran other to him, hugging their father and asking 101 questions at once; Allister just smile and ruffled Arthur’s blond hair while picking up Oliver, “Now, now, you two. You know you shouldn’t give you mother worries like this.”

“Papa, mama was reading the history of Shesten again. Is magic really that bad?” The blue-eyed boy asked, looking as innocent as ever. The king sighed and put his son down and knelt down to look at them both, “Oliver, magic isn’t bad, but it’s not needed in Shesten. We’ve grown and flourished without it and mostly people are afraid of it now. Why are you asking such a thing?” The little boy fiddle with the bottom of his shirt then pointed to hos brother, “Artie and his friends said I can’t play with them because I’m a mage and might put a curse them!” Their mother sighed and shook her head – her efforts to have them make up were lost. Allister perked up and looked at his eldest son, “Arthur, is this true?”

The blond 11-year-old folded his arms and refused to look his father in the eye, “Maybe…I didn’t start it. It was Francis! He said Oliver was a made because of his pink hair and the other started saying the other things!” The king gave a stern look, “Yet you let it happen and at fault here as well. There is no history of any mages in our family, thus, no one here is a mage. I’ll have a talk with your friends’ parents and if I catch you instigating such a thing again I will not hesitate to give your punishment. Do I make myself clear?” Arthur lowered his head, “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now run along and stay out of trouble.” He watched as the boys nodded and ran out of the room. His wife just shook her head, “What am I going to do with those two? Arthur is starting remind me of you at that age and Oliver has yet to come out of his shell.” Allister just chuckled and pulled her in close for a kiss, “Marianne, my love, their boys. Their going to be a bit difficult until their older. I know I was and gave my mother headaches!” He couldn’t help but laugh as the queen rolled her eyes at her husband, “From the stories I heard, I think you were worse and your sisters can prove it!” Marianne pulled away to sit back down with the king moving to sit on the couch, “I’m a bit worried, darling. The boys have their interests but lately Oliver is asking more about magic and mages more than anything. Even his teacher has told me he rather asks about magic then about other studies.”

Allister hummed and rubbed his chin as he thought about it, “The boy will learn that we don’t approve such questions. You’re too lenient with him, Marianne. If he asks, then tell him the truth that we don’t want it around and dislike it. Eventually he’ll learn and stop asking meaningless questions then move onto more important things.”

Fiddling with a dark blond curl, Marianne sighed once, “I suppose you’re right, darling. He won’t like it, but Oliver is young and will eventually learn.”

As the two boys grew, Oliver’s curiosity about magic and mages became even more prominent. Whenever he had the chance the little boy would ask: “who were mages”, “what did they do?”, “how did they get their magic?” or “are they associated with the creatures in Yasil?” Most would find their 9-year-old to be quite smart asking such sophisticated questions, but in the palace, it was something they wanted to avoid. By his 10th birthday, Oliver found one of the royal mages – a man named Roy, who only stuck close to the palace because his daughter was a maid. At first, he was hesitant saying anything but eventually, the middle-aged man couldn’t ignore the bright-eyed kid who patiently sat at his table with a hopeful look. “Okay kiddo, you got me. I’ll talk but you have to promise not to say a word outside of this house, understood?” Oliver nodded, “Yes! I want to know how mages get their magic?”

The man pulled up a chair and hummed, “Easy. It runs through our family’s blood and the source depends on what element you work best with.  Some mages work better with water, so their magic source is from the water; others get their magic through the earth. It all depends on the person and how they’re taught.” The young prince hummed, “Where is the magic?” Roy chuckled, “Yasil is full of magic, your highness. It was here long before any humans arrived and will remain here until we’re gone.”  Oliver found this fascinating, only remembering how his teacher said it was something mages came up with. “Roy…why does everyone hate magic so much? I know great grandpa was angry about them refusing his orders but when I ask, papa refuses to say anything.” The older man sighed, knowing the real reason, “Kid, I don’t think I’m the best person to tell you…” With that little information, the kid excused himself and left back home, going straight to his father’s study. Allister wasn’t there, so he waited until dinner to approach the king with his one question. 

Dinner started out as usual – the queen and king spoke of upcoming events, boring the two boys, then Arthur began talking about his training. Traditional for any boy of 13, he began to learn sword fighting and horseback riding to become a strong fighter as an adult.  Allister praised his eldest son and Marianne glanced at Oliver, “Oliver, sweetie, your quiet tonight. Is everything okay?” The young boy picked at his half-eaten meal, hesitating before speaking up to his father, “Papa? Can I ask you a question?”

Allister glanced at him, “Of course, Oliver. What is it?” He replied, cutting into his food, “Why do you and everyone else hate mages so much?” That made everyone stop eating, with his older brother rolling his eyes and his mother chewing on her bottom lip. The king was finally done with hearing about all of this – he set his fork down and pointed to his youngest son. “Oliver Kirkland I’ve had enough! I’ve told you before and I’m telling you now, I don’t want any more of this magic and mage crap!” This time, instead of backing down, the 10-year-old argued back, “But I want to know! Everyone keeps dodging the question and says I’m too young to know! I want to know!”

“Oliver! If you really want to know why then fine! Your great grandfather hated magic and everyone of those mages because they wanted to run things on their own! One of them specifically tried to murder him and his family, causing destruction half of Shesten! That’s why none of them are to be trusted and why no one wants them here! Now, if you want to continue speaking about those gods forsaken people then I’ll send you to your aunt’s home until you straighten up! I do not want to ear anything more and if you speak another word about that you’ll be in a carriage the next day!” It was dead silent in the room as Oliver stared wide eyed at his father, who rarely got this angry with his sons. He lowered his eyes and tried his hardest not to cry but he felt the tears come. Allister sighed and got up to comfort his son, softening his voice once more, “Oliver, please understand. I know it’s annoying but we’re trying to keep our people safe and bringing up such a dark and sad past isn’t healthy. So please no more of this magic curiosity…” The little boy sniffled and rubbed his eyes, “Yes, papa…sorry…” Allister hugged him and patted his back to soothe him, “It’s okay, kiddo. The Kirkland family is strong without any dumb magic to get in the way. We’ve proved it then and we’re going to prove it now.”

* * *

 Things changed after that day. Oliver’s questions about magic changed to questions about his studies. By the time he hit 13, the 2nd prince was focused on sword fighting and training, having the same views as everyone now: magic was dangerous and not needed in the kingdom. But now, at almost 14, Oliver’s focus was away from swords but on books. He spent most days in the library now, not really wanting to pick up a sword again. On one spring morning, he was outside in the garden with his mother and little sister Amelia, reading while she watched Arthur hang out with his friends. All the boys were 16-17 years old now, almost adults with Arthur now being groomed to eventually take the throne. Oliver was still quiet and often ignore his older brother’s teasing – he found him to be even more of a jerk now. “Oi! Ollie! Put the book down and come join us! We’re going to explore the back woods!” Arthur called out, watching as the younger teen his hid face in the book, “I’ll pass.”

Marianne lowered the book, “Go and join them, Oliver. The book won’t disappear while you’re gone, I promise. “The pink haired teen groaned, “But mother, they’re going to leave me like they did last time!” His mother pulled the book away, “If he does, you father will be after him. Besides, I think you need the fresh air, love.”

Oliver mumbled, “I can get fresh air right here…” then stood up walking over to the older boys who all were heading towards the stables. Once they got their horses ready, the group headed out down the path towards the gates that led to the south side of the city, heading towards the thick green trees. For the most part, the older boys were nice as they trotted into the forest, with Francis speaking to him. “I’m surprised you still remember how to ride a horse, Ollie! You spend so much time inside, you’re getting paler!” The group laughed, and the prince just pouted, “I do get out! Just not when stupid jerks like you are around!” They taunted him, and Arthur had to wave them off, “Hey now, be nice you guys. I rather not have my dad on my ass again.” As the teenagers trotted their horses along, something growled and spooked the horses, making them refuse to go any further. Antonio, the only curly browned haired boy there, looked around, “I heard it, but I don’t see it…maybe we should have taken another way?”

“That’s a dumb idea. We’ve always taken this way!” The oldest Kirkland spoke up as his brother glanced around. Oliver glanced around, holding onto the reigns of his dappled mare, who was jittery now. He then froze a saw what looked like a mixture of a bear and a cougar with piercing yellow eyes. It came charging after the group and all he could yelp out was “WATC OUT!” before the force of the creature knocked down two of the horses and made the rest of them separate from the huddled group. The creature swerved around to glance at Oliver, running after him while the other teens are trying to get their horses to calm down. The prince kicked at his horse’s side and took off from the path, panicking as he looked back every now and then to see the creature coming after him. His horse took a sharp turn, sending her rider tumbling down the small hill until he hit a large boulder. “Oww!” Oliver winced in pain, hoping nothing was broken as he slowly sat up, seeing the creature looking down at him.

“B-Bloody hell…!” The young teen froze as the creature came closer, baring its sharp teeth at him. But in a flash, Oliver saw two balls of flames hit the creature, making it run off from the prince. _Who did that…?_ he thought looking up to see a man with long, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. Alongside him were two boys, who looked around Arthur’s age; one with red eyes and the other violet both quietly looking down at him. The man spoke with a soft toned voice, “You’re safe for now, young prince, but it will come back if you remain here. I suggest you don’t stick around long, otherwise we’ll be in a bigger mess.” And with that they disappeared and within minutes, Arthur arrived with the others. “Oliver! Fuck! Mom is going to bloody kill me!” The younger prince was in a bit of a daze as his brother picked him up and settled him onto his horse, holding Oliver as he got up himself. “One of your guys go grab Oliver’s horse and let’s get out of here!”  With one of the teens doing just that, the group rode back in silence to the safety of the palace grounds.

Oliver was quiet the way back home, thinking of the beast that chased him and that man with the two boys. He knew people lived outside of the city but didn’t think they would help him of all people. His head hurt from this and as they arrived, his mother was confused as to why they were back so early. Everything happened so fast – from his mother calling for a doctor, to his brother rushing him inside to his room.  The younger boy just closed his eyes, wanting the dizziness and pain to go away. A check with the doctor showed no broken bones, just some bad bruising and a few scratches that will heal. He was told relax for the rest of the day and Oliver nearly passed out as he laid for a nap.  His mind was on the man with the two sons, wondering why they would help him from such an awful beast. Even at dinner time, the teen wasn’t paying much attention to his parents, who were asking about what happened. “Arthur? You didn’t see the creature that was charging after us?”

The older Kirkland shook his head, “There wasn’t anything there, Oliver. It must have been a nearby bear that spooked the horses.” He said, pretty much dismissing what his little brother said – _it wasn’t just a bear…it was something bigger, I saw it. I know I saw it because 3 other people saw it…,_ Oliver thought, picking at is food. Ignoring the replies of ‘he hit his head and must have something’ his parents said, the boy continued to eat in silence. After dinner, he took a small walk before it got dark, stopping one of the maids he knew roamed around in the market. “Oh! What can I do for you, your highness?”

“Nothing…I was wondering, does anyone live outside in the southern side of the forest?” Oliver asked, watching the maid hum and think, “There might be…I think I remember hearing stories about a man and his two sons living out there. But you shouldn’t concern yourself with them! They’re mages and so secluded that some people believe they’re not really human!” With those odd eyes, I would believe, he thought, smiling. “Thank you. Sorry to bother you.” It still bothered him, but the prince decided to drop it for now, heading back to his room to sleep. The next day, he was back in the library once more, searching around for something new until he spotted an old leather-bound book on the very top shelf that was just barely out of his reach. The teen grabbed a chair and reach up to get it, nearly on his tippy toes to grab the book. He managed to grab it but fell, causing the bookcase to fall as well. Gasping, Oliver flinched, “No!” Closing his eyes and preparing for a bookcase to hit him. But when it didn’t, he opened his eyes to see his hands have a soft blue glow and the bookcase stopped half way with the same glow. “What the…?” Confused and shocked, he slowly moved his up, watching as the large bookcase was put back in place, alongside all the books. Oliver then looked at his hand and shook it, making the glow disappear, “Magic…? But how?? That’s impossible!” Internally freaking out, the prince decided to not tell anyone, unsure of how they were going to react to this.

Glancing at the book, titled “Creatures of Yashil”, the prince pretends the whole glowing hand didn’t happen and opened the book. But he felt off and decided to keep it for later – the thought of him with magic scared Oliver. What if his parents found out? The news would spread like wildfire and cause problems for everyone. He couldn’t do that to his family; so, hiding and ignoring was the decision made that day.

But that proved to be difficult – with each passing day, week and month, there was magic flop where Oliver had to come up with an excuse for. He didn’t like lying, but Oliver feared what will happen if anyone knew the truth.  When the teen turned 16, he decided that he was going to use it in different ways. Perhaps if he used a little bit of it, it won’t be as hard to hide it as it was when he found out about it. He used it on the garden, making the flower grow bigger, the grass greener, the trees more flourished. When guests came to see it and they asked how they got the flowers to look so beautiful, Oliver would proudly say he was just good at gardening.  His little sister Amelia didn’t like it because whenever she picked a flower, it would immediately die in her hand. He managed to make a flower crown for her that wouldn’t die, getting the hang of the little exert of magic he was going. Though, there was one thing he noticed while using his magic: if he used a lot of it, a marking would appear on his arm. They were intricate designs that glowed when the magic was being used, bust lasted for hours and he had to find ways to cover it.

It came to a point that the young man had questions as well as fears. Oliver hated being so secretive with his family and tried his best to seem okay. Every so often, he would glance at the forest, wondering if that man and his two sons could help. But that would expose him, and he just wasn’t ready for that. He remained quiet, hiding his big secret from a family that didn’t have any exposure to it. Oliver Kirkland, the awkward teenager of the family right now who acts weird around people at times. He had to do this on his own – but often wished he had someone who could help him. If he asked Roy or any of the other mages, they were required to tell his father and he didn’t want that.

 Hiding magic isn’t so bad!

Right?

* * *

 Six years passed.

Within those six years, Allister announced he was retiring as king to give it to his eldest son, Arthur, after he was married. The blond Kirkland was now a 25 year old bachelor and the talk of many noble women in Sheston. With his emerald eyes, defined eyebrows, golden hair, and athletic body, it made every young woman blush as hey spoke about how handsome he was. He carried the same pride and strong look as his father and grandfather before him. Oliver turned out to be completely different from his older brother - his features became more effeminate with long eyelashes, a slender body, and he began to wear earrings that made him look even prettier. People found him adorable because of how young the 22 year old looked and some even said he was prettier than some women; Oliver was open to conversations, was polite, and had a charm that people loved. But, what none of them knew, was the 2nd prince had magic and been using it for over 5 years now - and honestly, he was at a point where he wanted to learn how to properly use it. Every time he bought it up, his parents where almost the same as when he was asking them as a a kid once more - uptight and refusing to shed any light on mages. 

It bothered the young man, but not as much as it did when he was a kid and teenager. Oliver was at a point where most men were trying to figure out what they wanted to do in life - though, Arthur found it weird that his little brother never was interesting in women. The last time a woman flirted with the pink haired man, he was completely oblivious and figure she was just being nice to him; causing her to gossip about how the younger prince might not like women. As a normal citizen it was normal to like the same sex, but in a noble and royal family, it wasn't when the family wants to grow in size to continue to the family name. Oliver wouldn't admit out loud but, yes, he preferred men and was attractive to them, but gods, if his family knew about that they would flip out. He was also not the type of person to snap at  people for gossip that may or may not be true because to him, it just stirs up unwanted drama and stress.

"Oliver, you're joining the summer solstice party right?" Francis asked as the group of men sat in the parlor with drinks in hand. The younger man became friends with Arthur's friends and grew a bit more closer to Francis because of their same interests. The young prince smiled, "Of course. It's one of my favorite celebrations of the year. Plus, I don't want to miss seeing all those women trip over themselves to impress Arthur, hoping to become the next queen of Sheston." The other's chuckled with Arthur rolled his eyes,"Don't remind me. I am not ready to impress all these women....I guess it's better than going with the old ways of mother and father picking one I don't know." The other agreed with that, "But I'm curious about you, Oliver."

Oliver raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

His brother gave a small smirk,"You need to find yourself someone. Maybe someone to finally have some fun to relieve that stress you have." The pink prince blushed,knowing exactly what Arthur meant as he covered his face with a hand, "Seriously? Isn't that a bit inappropriate right now?" Antonio waved a hand, "Relax! We're all friends here!" Arthur laughed and patted his brother's shoulder,"Really, Oliver, you know mother is expecting both of us to find a potential wife at the party. Amelia is no longer a baby and hitting her teen years, so, she's expecting grand kids now." _You're going to be the one giving here that, not me,_ the pink prince thought,"Ergh...we'll see. After you become king, I still have to figure out what to do once your coronation is done and you have that shiny crown on your head. Perhaps I'll travel!" His brother just ruffled his hair, chuckling, "Alright, kiddo. But do expect you to at least talk to people at the party. No avoiding people and running off to the library, got it?"

The smaller Kirkland heavily sighed, "Fiiineeeee  guess I can do that." But honestly, he wasn't ready for the party because when there was a lot of people, his magic would be erratic, making it hard for Oliver to keep it hidden. Almost every party he had to slip away to relax and try keep the magic down or do something to release it - often causing a bush to be set on fire. Lately, it's been growing and the markings have made their way to his shoulders and other arm, giving a cooling feeling through his body. Oddly enough, it relaxes him but the young prince had to find ways to avoid people for fear of them seeing his intricate blue markings. Perhaps with this party, it wouldn't be too bad because it's outside where he can get fresh air and Oliver can manage it better than being cooped up in a large gathering hall. Oliver wanted to support his brother and knew that if he missed this party, it would the talk of the nobles the next day - he rather not feed into the gossip like that.


	2. Complications

The summer solstice party was annually held inside the grand hall of the palace. This time, it was outside in the garden where everyone can spread out and enjoy themselves. This was the biggest party that all the noble families attend to have fun, while those in the rest of the kingdom everyone celebrated in their own little way. A big part of the gathering was for everyone to show off their best outfits – there was a variety of colors and styles that reflected the differences in Yashil. It was the late afternoon when Oliver received his outfit from Francis, who promised to give him something that went perfect with his looks. He opened the gift and slipped into it, glancing at the mirror, blushing at the outfit. It was a simple outfit that covered everything but his lower back his arms with ruffled puffed pants that were easy to move in. The material was lite and easy to move in, hugging the curves that Oliver had around his hips and butt. With 3 gold earrings, gold necklace and gold necklace, the prince blushed at how he looked. “Francis...are you trying to get me hated by some of these women?”  He was about to go change into something else when a knock came at the door, “Yes?”

Amelia came running in, dressed in a bright red orange dress, excited for the party. At 13 years old, she was already his height and he knew that she was going to be taller than him.

“Brother! Look at my dress! It reminds me of fire!” She twirled around to show her dress of, making the older Kirkland clap for her, “You look wonderful, Amelia! Just be careful! You don’t want to get it dirty!” The young girl hugged him and glanced at his outfit, “I love your outfit as well! Anyways, come on! People are starting to arrive!”

Oliver chuckled and smiled, “Go on ahead of me. I’ll be down soon, okay?” Amelia kissed her brother’s cheek then ran out of the room again, slamming the door behind her. Oliver sighed and looked at his hands, “I think I can do this…I’m going to have fun, enjoy the company, and won’t have any problems!” Taking once more look at himself in the mirror, he slipped on the matching shoes and headed out of the room.

The garden was already full of people in fancy outfits, drinking and eating with music playing near the stairway. Allister and his wife were entertaining some guests, Amelia was playing with her friends, and Arthur was already surrounded by 3 women who were curious about miscellaneous details of his life. The middle Kirkland walked around, greeting anyone who bowed and said ‘hello’ to him – he felt as ease once he was outside, sipping on a glass of wine. So far, so good…, he thought, looking around to see who was here. “Oliver! The outfit looks wonderful on you!” Francis called out, waving to him before returning to his conversation, making the prince smile and blush. With tensions finally gone, Oliver put himself out there to talk to people and join in a few dances, smiling brightly through it all. A group of women were watching, replying about how cute he was, but one woman – Natalya, wasn’t having any of it. “Why are you guys talking about how cute he is? Prince or not, he’s not that cute or special.”

One of the women glanced at her, “You’re just jealous that he hasn’t taken interest in you, Nat.” Another one nodded in agreement, “I agree. Just enjoy the party and forget about him.” Natalya scoffed and folded her arms, “You two should be annoyed about him as well. Nearly 22 and yet to ever have a date or any interest in any of us? Don’t you find it odd that whenever he is around women he becomes super polite but whenever a man comes around he’s a bubbling mess?” Now the other two women were questioning the younger prince, so, the other woman flipped her silvery hair and continued, “Oliver likes men, even when people know that is a bad thing within the royal family. So good luck, you’re never going to be a prince’s wife.” The women were in silence and Natalya walked off, decided to leave them and walk towards Oliver tapping his shoulder. “Oh! Miss Natalya! What can I do for you?”

The woman held out a hand, “I want you to take me to dance.” It a demand ad not an offer, but the prince was slightly scared of this woman, so he agreed. Taking her hand, he led her to where everyone was dancing, and began to lead her. “Not bad. I wasn’t expecting you to take the lead in such a dance.” She replied, making Oliver slightly confused, “I don’t understand what you mean, Miss.  I’ve been trained to do most dances in Sheston for occasions such as this.” Natalya scoffed, “That’s not what I meant, your highness. I mean you’re good at leading for a man who takes the company of other men.” That made him stop dancing, looking annoyed at the woman’s attempt to get on his nerves, “That is not true, Miss Natalya and I would appreciate you not spreading such lies about me.” He excused himself, but he could hear the clicking of her heels on the ground, “Oh come now! I can hide secrets,” the woman came and hugged his arm, so her breasts pushed against him, “Just pretend to date me and those lies will die away really quick.” _What is this woman trying to accomplish here?_   Oliver thought, stopping and glaring at her, “Say what you want then. I am not going to be blackmailed to date someone like you. Now step off!” he gave a push to get the woman off, but he watched as she blatantly faked a fall, making a scene now.

“How dare you! The prince just pushed me and all I wanted was a dance!” Now all eyes were on him with everyone in that area glancing at Oliver. Some people were questioning it and others whispered, ‘how rude’, but what scared the prince was the tall, stoic man who appeared to glare down at him. “Ivan…” The stoic man helped his sister up and spoke to her, “What is happening here, dear sister?” A finger pointed to the pink prince making him flinched, “He pushed to the ground and all I wanted was to dance!” 

Now, Ivan’s attention was on the smaller man as he glared down at him, “I respect the royal family, but I do not appreciate it when someone treats my sister with disrespect. Royalty or not.” Oliver gasped as his wrist was tightly grabbed, unable to pull away from the other man’s grip, “I did not push her to the ground! She was too close to me and I just nudged her away! She’s the one who pretended to fall to cause a scene – you know, just as well as everyone, I won’t harm any woman!” The silver haired man wasn’t having it was about to take a swing at Oliver until Arthur came and held his arm, “What the hell are you doing to my brother?”

Ivan gave a small growl, “Your brother here harmed my sister! I am only making things even!” Oliver snapped back, “I-I did not! She fell on her own because I wouldn’t take her offer of dating!” Natalya shook her head, “That’s a lie!” Arthur rolled his eyes, “I highly doubt he did such thing, Miss Natalya, and you, Ivan, are you really going to harm one of the royal family? What were you going to accomplish?” Ivan refused back down, tightening his grip on the prince’s arm each time he tried to pull away. “Back off or I’ll punch you too!” The two men argued as Oliver tried to pull away, feeling the stares rom the crowd that was watching. He was panicking and can feel his magic bubbling inside him; _no, no, no, no, no, not now! I can’t have any outbursts now!_ But as he was tugged and shouted at, the young prince had enough of this. Ivan was about to punch him again when he got out of Arthur’s hold but there was a flash of light after Oliver called out “No!”. The people closest to him were pushed back, catching the attention of everyone, including his parents. The younger prince looked around and saw the shocked look at him and both silver siblings knocked back down on the ground. His brother looked confused as he stood up, “Oliver...what the hell…?” Oliver didn’t say a word – he just ran off, wanting to get back to his room without any word from his family and the guests. Once in there, he locked to the door then went to the mirror, now seeing the intricate stretch over to the back. He pulled off his shirt to finally get a full look of the intricate light blue markings that cover his chest, shoulders and back. Each one was glowing until finally receding from his arms and settling on the rest of his upper body. “I don’t understand these…” he glanced at the window and chewed on his bottom lip, “I can’t imagine what’s happening down there…” Double checking to make sure the door was locked, Oliver stripped out of his clothing and went to bed, not wanting to think about anything that just happened.

Laying in bed, with the sound of the music still playing outside, the prince felt his stomach turn, "I was doing good...no problems, i was happy, but then that woman came and messed it up! Even if I did like women, there is no way in hell I would date her!" Oliver groaned, rolling over to his side to look out the window, "Besides that, numerous of people saw that magic outburst...oh god, they're going to come after me in the morning! Everyone's going to know by tomorrow afternoon..." he closed his eyes, feeling sick about the situation he's in right now. _Let the gods help me now...I pray they're lenient with me..._

* * *

 

That following morning, the prince felt awful, barely able to sleep very well because each sound made him panic that someone was coming for him. Oliver got up to get dressed, seeing the markings still on his body as permanent tattoos on his slender body. “They’re not going away…fuck…” He dressed in simple clothing and took a deep breath, opening the door to see a maid bowing. “Your Highness, you are wanted in the study….” By her tone, the prince knew it wasn’t a good thing. He thanked her and walked to his father’s study, hesitating at the door – his earlier panics returned, and he feared what as to come. Taking a deep breath, Oliver knocked on the door and he heard his father’s stern voice of “Enter.” The younger prince opened the door to see his father sitting down at the desk, with his moth behind him, his brother on one side and the silver haired siblings on the other side. _Oh dear…_ , he walked into the room, shutting the door, listening as his father spoke first.

“Oliver…the Braginksy siblings have told me that you tried to harm Miss Natalya. Your brother here says differently and I want to get your side of the story.” Allister replied, folding his arms as he listened to his son, “Father, with all do respect, they are lying. Miss Natalya wanted to dance, and I agreed to; as we dance, she was trying to blackmail me into dating her, and I felt uncomfortable, especially since she was getting too close to me. I only pushed her back a little before I saw her fall on purpose, causing the scene last night.”  Natalya glared at him, shaking her head and protesting, “I wouldn’t do such a thing! He had a couple of drinks of wine and was being rude to me!” She stopped when a hand from the king was held up and he addressed her, “Miss Natalya, I can’t possibly believe that when Oliver barely drinks and has never raised a hand against a woman. If you have problems with my son, you are to either talk to him like adults or come to me instead of causing trouble at a party.” The silvery haired woman shook her head and headed towards the door, “I’ve had enough of this. I don’t any problems, your majesty, it’s him!” She pointed at Oliver, “Everyone knows that he’s never going to like women because he prefers men! If anything, you should be ashamed of him! Who knows how many men he has sneaking around with or how many he's bought into the palace under everyone's noses!” With that, Natalya and Ivan were gone, leaving the family in silence and Oliver standing there, eyes wide from those allegations. _She’s lying! I’ve never even kissed a man, let alone have sex with one!_ He thought, glancing at his parents, who were quiet as they tried to figure this out.

Allister spoke again, “I…don’t know what’s worse here heh…finding out your son doesn’t like women or finding out he knows magic! Years of wondering which lucky woman is going to come and make our family grow was for nothing!” He gave a dry, humorless laugh before his green eyes glanced back at Oliver, “Who taught you magic?”

“N-No one…” He mumbled, seeing his father not believing such a thing, “Obviously, you learned it from someone! How long have you been hiding this, Oliver?” The prince suddenly felt like he was 10 again, being pinned on the spot with an angry father. “Six years…I-I just woke up one day and it happened…I hide it for a few years then used it to keep the garden growing…” Marianne spoke next as his father was thinking, “After telling you everything about why we don’t allow magic you still went behind our backs? Oliver, why would you do this?”

Oliver felt tears in his eyes, “No, mother! I-I don’t know what happened! I-I hid it because I knew it wasn’t allowed and I didn’t want to cause any trouble…” For the first time ever, he could see shame in his mother’s eyes and it hurt. The young man never wanted to bring shame to his family, especially not to her. Allister spoke again, “Oliver, pack your bags. You are to head to your aunt’s home until you can change your ways. As for the magic, I am going to get the eldest mage and have him stripped of your magic. Then, we will drop this when you finally decide to straighten up for this family.” The prince’s eyes widened as he received his royal banishment from the one home he’s ever known, “You’re…banishing me…? I-I don’t care about the magic! Stripped it away but, father, please don’t send me off to some home I’m not familiar with!” Allister refused to speak, and he looked at mother, “Mother?” Marianne chewed on her bottom and spoke, “Perhaps it’s for the best, Oliver. A break from the palace and city life can clear your mind… ”  Oliver’s heart sunk as he looked at his parents, then at his brother, who remained quiet and unwilling to look at any of them. Within a few minutes, he became the black sheep of the family because of his choices he made for himself. “Fine….”

He excused himself, running away to his room, desperately grabbing what little he can and stuffing it into a bag. “I’m not sticking around then! I made good choices for my safety and theirs, but it’s still enough for the Kirkland king!” The door opened, making the prince flinch until he saw, Gabby, Roy’s daughter, who was now a mother of 2 and head of the maids. “Oliver? What’s going on? Why are you crying?” He always saw her as a big sister and he panicked, “They’re sending me away, Gabby! I admitted to them that I have magic, but then they found out about other things and they want to send me away! I-I can’t go to a place I have no knowledge of!” Oliver’s words were jumbled all together as he cried, allowing a tight hug from the woman, “That’s awful! Father was right about your father! It doesn’t matter who you are, if you know magic you’re already a bad guy!” She huffed then sighed, “Look, Oliver, if you want to decided things for yourself, you have to get out of here and away from the kingdom.” The young man sniffled, “I know…but where?”

Gabby pulled a handkerchief out of her hand and gave it to him, “Head out towards the forest, along the southside. Just keep going and you’ll find a small home – a man named Alberich lives there and he’ll help you.”

Oliver rubbed his eyes and vaguely remember that area, thinking about the man who saved him when he was a kid, “I kind of know him…he saved me once…” The maid patted his shoulder, “Good. It’s best to get going soon before your parents make a different choice for you.” The prince nodded, knowing he feels awful right now, he had to get out of here. He got up and finished packing up, fixing his multiple earrings.  “Thank you, Gabby. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

“Of course! Now get going!”

The young man headed out, getting a last look at his room before leaving down the hall, heading for the stables. Once there, he got his horse ready, making sure he had the simple saddle instead of the fancy once. As he was doing this, Amelia appeared, looking confused, “Oliver? What’s going on?” He wanted to lie, but what kind of person would Oliver be if he started lying to a 13-year-old? “Amelia, listen; mom and dad want to send away because of some choices I made. I have to leave for my own safety…I don’t want to leave, but I have to keep you and everyone else safe.” The teen frowned at the news, “I don’t understand…what if you made a different choice? I can convince papa to change his mind!” Oliver sighed and hugged her, “I wish it was that easy…but I promise, I’ll keep in touch with you, okay? For now, take care of them and don’t give Arthur too much hassle.” His sister hugged him tighter and nodded, “Okay…but you better keep that promise!” Oliver nodded, and Amelia helped him fixed the saddle – the older Kirkland then climbed up onto his horse. “See you when I can, Amelia.”  He kicked his horse a bit and headed out, thanking the gods the guards were nice enough to open the gate for him.

* * *

 

Oliver headed towards the southern gate that led out of the city and towards the edge of the forest. He was nearly there but slowed his horse down to a trot but stopped it to look back at the city. It hurt deep inside to look at the place he’s called ‘home’ all his life and know he won’t be accepted if people knew of his magic. “I’m sorry…” The young man whispered, turning to face the vast forest and heading inside. He headed down the path until there was nothing but trees, wondering where this house could be. It was nearly two hours when Oliver spotted smoke from a fireplace, “Ahh! I think that’s it!” He got off the horse to give it a break, walking until he saw a small home covered in leaves. With the smoke coming out of the chimney, there was a sign that there was someone living there. Taking a deep breath, the young man led his horse to the nearby stream and walked to the door knocking on the door.

Luckily, Oliver heard footsteps, but instead of the door fully opening, small one on the top opened, “What do you want?” The voice spoke was a deep voice, but it didn’t sound like the one he remembered hearing before. “Umm…is Alberich here?”  Oliver asked, looking to see if someone was there, but only sensed someone wad by the door, “He’s not here, now, go away.” The little door closed, making the pink man roll his eyes, knocking once more until the little door opened again. “What now?” The voice sounded annoyed now. “I need his help with my magic problem and I was told to come here!”

“Too bad! I said he’s not here now go away!” Once again, the little door closed, and Oliver almost wanted to give up. “Please! I don’t know where else to go! I have magic and I don’t know what to do with it…you may not know who I am, but I can’t go back…this is the last place and I have no where else to go! I-I can clean and cook, so I won’t be lazy!” It was quiet, and the pink haired man decided whoever he was talking to, was gone – but the door clicked then opened. Oliver looked up at see a tall man with violet eyes, cropped blond hair, and a small scar under his left eye, who didn’t look much older than the prince. Looking at those eyes, he remembered seeing that this was one of the boys that was with Alberich all those years ago. “You’re not Alberich…”

The taller man folded his arms and leaned against the door frame, “Nope. That’s my father and he’s currently away so until then, I’m managing the house, little prince.” Oliver blinked a bit, “How did you know I was the prince?” A scoff came from the larger man, “Please, it’s not hard to forget that pink hair of yours. Now, what is it that you want from my dad?” Brushing back some hair behind his ear, the prince avoided eye contact and replied, “I was told to come here…I have magic and I don’t know what to do…you know my family doesn’t have magic, so I don’t know how I got this magic.” The violet eye man shrugged, “Oh that’s easy. You’re not related to the Kirkland family, hence, why you have magic and they don’t!” He said nonchalantly, giving a small smirk at the other man.

Oliver looked offended now, “How can you say such a thing?”

“Does your mom have magic?”

“No.”

“Your brother?”

“No…”

“Sister?”

“N-No…none of them do!”

The man at the door held out his hands, “Then, there you go! Magic is only gained by blood, kiddo! Either mom or dad has it – if one parent has magic, their first kid will have magic; if both parents have it, then all the kids have it, like my brother and me. So! Either dear old King Allister had a fling outside of his marriage, or you are not actually of Kirkland blood.” He watched as Oliver was trying to understand this information, seeing he didn’t accept is as the little prince shook his head. “No! I don’t believe you! You’re just saying that to be an awful jerk to me! I don’t believe you!” At his snap, Oliver’s magic spouted out, knocking Lutz down onto his butt, and his horse to jump back from the sound. The violet eyed man was shocked, wanting to snap at the prince, but he saw the tears coming down Oliver’s face with the blue magic sparking around the prince’s fingers. Sighing, he stood back onto his feet and opened to the side, “Get in here.” The prince sniffled and rubbed his eyes, holding his bag as he walked inside, “Thank you…and sorry…” He stepped inside, looking around to see a quaint little home with a large bear rug on the ground, food in the kitchen and picture frames on the wall. Everything showed it was a very well-kept home – he felt comfortable here and sensed that everything had a hint of magic in it.

Oliver pulled of a chair from the table and sat down, watching the other man stir the pot that was over of the fire. “Umm…why did you let me in?” The other mam scoffed, “Please, after seeing that little burst, you’re like a ticking time bomb.” The prince raised an eyebrow, “I’m not following…” Those violet eyes eye back on him, “Since you haven’t properly learned how to control your magic, your emotions are causing it to be on the fritz. If you’re get took angry, it goes off, if you’re very happy, it explodes, and so on and so on.” The blond haired poured two bowls of food then came over to sit at the table with Oliver. The smell of food made his stomach growl and he realized he hasn’t eaten all day. The prince was about to grab a spoon and bowl before a hand stopped him. “Ah, ah! You don’t get to eat until you tell me what it is you want my dad to do.”

Grumbling, Oliver hugged himself, “I was hoping he can find away to get rid of my magic…it’s caused me nothing but trouble a-and because of it, my own family has turned against me. There’s other reasons for them doing that but I think my magic was the main reason….” The violet eyed man looked at him with slight disgust that made the prince flinch, “You’re given a gift from the gods and you speak of it as a burden, even though you haven’t learned any of the many wonders you can do with it. People like that make me sick and don't deserve any help from my dad!”

The prince’s mouth opened, and he began to defend himself, “I never asked for this! Every time I’ve used it, it always caused a mess for me!” The other man refused to argue about it – instead he stood up and grabbed his own bowl, “Whatever. Eat and sleep on the couch over there. My father and brother are returning tomorrow, and they’ll figure out what to do with you.” With that, the violet eyed man headed down the small hall to one of the rooms, shutting the door with a clear slam.  Oliver chewed on his bottom, already feeling awful but no he felt worse – he almost didn’t want to eat but had to because dizziness was starting to creep up.

The food was a stew with meat, carrots, roots, and herbs. At least the food is good…” he mumbled sitting there in the quiet house, finishing his food then headed to the couch. Oliver felt numb now and all he wanted was sleep, so he grabbed the small blanket that covered the back of the blanket then curled up. _At least I’m not sleeping in the middle of the forest…tomorrow will decided if I would be on my way back to the city or sleeping outside…_


	3. Agreements

Once Oliver left the room, the oldest Kirkland members sat in silence with Arthur finally breaking it, “Do you really think that was a good idea? By the sound of it, Oliver was being reasonable with hiding that magic – as for the other thing, I don’t know. It’s his personal life and I have no judgment over it.” Allister waved a dismissive hand at his eldest son, “I made my decision. What kind of person will I be, if I let someone in my own home have magic who’s not part of the royal guard? I would be made a mockery all over the kingdom!” The younger man rolled his eyes at his father “Okay but sending him off to aunt Ally’s place was pretty much kicking him out, father. So, which was worse? The fact that your son has magic or the fact that these allegations of him liking men? That could be just a lie – the Braginksy family are known to start up drama like that…”

Marianne sighed softly and went to sit down in the empty chair near her son, “Allister, do you think you’re being a bit rash here? Oliver’s never harmed anyone and never really had interest in people in a potential fiancé kind of way.” The king sat there, pinching the bridge of his nose, thinking over his decisions while understanding their details. He was conflicted with protecting the legacy of his family and keeping the peace among those close to him. “Again, if I kept a mage around then people will start to question everything my family has worked hard to maintain…but I admit, I probably shouldn’t have been so stern on him.”

“Then just keep him here and keep an eye on Oliver. I don’t agree with the magic at all but kicking my brother out like that is hurtful. Right now, he’s probably thinking his own dad hates him for something he had no control over.” The eldest Kirkland child replied, watching his father nod, “You’re sounding more like a king now, Arthur. It makes me feel more at ease that you’re capable of taken over.” Allister stood up, deciding to call for a maid but soon, his daughter came running in crying and nearly colliding with the older man. “Amelia, sweetie, what’s wrong?” The teen sniffled and looked up at him, “Is it true, papa? Did you kick Ollie out?”  Allister’s hear sunk, knowing how close his daughter was with her 2nd brother, “Amelia, I may have said some things, but I’ve changed my mind. Oliver’s not going go anywhere – as a matter of a fact, I’m going to go and talk to him again right now.”

Amelia shook her head, “You can’t...he said he couldn’t stay in the palace any longer and left. Took a horse and a bag then left…” Her mother stood up immediately, “He left? Where did he go?” The girl shrugged, “I don’t know! He wouldn’t say!” Arthur shook his head as he heard his father let out a small curse under his breath, “Give it the day, Father. If he doesn’t show up by dinner, I’ll send out a search party in the morning. I think he just needed to be away from the palace today.” The parents agreed but now the king had even more guilt for his decisions this morning. Allister was even more conflicted – before, if someone was seen using unauthorized magic, they would be gone immediately. But here was his own son who was seen by multiple of using magic and he didn’t know what the right protocol was. But for now, he was worried as much as the rest of his family for their missing family member.

* * *

 

Sleep wasn’t comfortable nor peaceful that night. Oliver was never comfortable sleeping in a place he was not familiar with, but it was better than sleeping outside with no blankets or pillows. Something cold was nudging the young man’s face, making him groan and slowly open his eyes. Once they were open, he was face to face with a large black wolf that licked his face when it saw the human awake. “Ugh!! Gross!” Oliver sat up, pushing the animal away, “How did a wolf get in here?”  he asked looking bewildered that a wild animal was casually sitting in the house.

“That is my familiar and he is more welcomed here then someone on my couch.” The violet eyed man replied, who was working in the kitchen. His back was turned from the prince and his tone of voice showed he was still annoyed with the unexpected guest in his home. “And if you don’t know that, a familiar is a creature that mages make a connection with. Once the bond is made, they can be very helpful for mages because they’re in tune with our magic.”  Oliver rubbed his face, moving a hand to bet the animal but it snapped at him, making the prince gasp. “He snapped at me!” The other man scoffed, “Of course he did. He doesn’t know you and doesn’t trust you – he’s still a wild animal, you dummy.”

The pink haired man glared at the other man, “I’m not a dummy…” The violet eyed man turned around and went to sit at the table with his meal of bacon, eggs and fresh coffee. “Sure, kiddo, now come sit and eat. You look like a ghost and I don’t need you looking like that when my family returns.” Oliver avoided the wolf that was watching him move and went to sit across from the other man. I don’t understand this man…he is rude to me but still feeds me? What is he trying to get at? He thought, trying the bacon first – the savory taste made him even hungrier and he did his best to eat fast. “Why am I getting dinner and breakfast?” Oliver asked, shoving a big helping of eggs into mouth afterward. The large man waved a hand, “I was taught to feed guests – even if they’re annoying ones.” The prince let the ‘annoying’ part slide because the food so far, was good and helped his stomach. “Are you going to tell me your name? You already know mine and it’s only fair.”

“Why? You’re probably going to be gone before lunch anyways.” The man replied, but Oliver didn’t back down, “Still, it’s nice to thank the people by name who gave you a meal or two.” The violet man sighed, “Fine. If you must know, my name is Lutz Beilschmidt, the youngest of my family.” He watched as a small smile appeared on the prince’s face, “Then thank you, Lutz Beilschmidt.”

After that, the two remained quiet as they continued to eat, not wanting to acknowledge each other. Lutz finished first and cleared his plate, heading to clean it when he perked up as fast as his familiar did. He looked out the window and has a look of relief, “They’re earlier than expected…” Oliver was confused as he watched the other man grab two more cups from a cabinet and poured the rest of the coffee in them. Lutz then walked over to the opening door with the cups and the prince watched as two more men came in. The first one was a white-haired man as tall as Lutz, but more of the slender tight with snowy white hair; then, Alberich, a man who was slightly taller than both of his sons, with the same long blond hair Oliver remembered – the only difference now, was he had lines around his eyes showing age and three scars down his blinded right eye.   _Well the two sons have changed but he hasn’t changed much besides those scars… the whole family look quite cleaned cut…,_ he thought, looking away from the group.

Lutz handed them the cups and greeted them, “Mornin’ you two. I was expecting you guys in the afternoon!” His brother spoke first, “Ughh, we would have but that merchant decided to up and leave before we can do anything.  What a waste of a trip…” He sipped his coffee but stopped midway when he saw the bright pink spot sitting at the table. “Umm…am I going crazy or is the prince sitting in our house?” The second Beilschmidt folded his arms, “No, you’re not. He’s there – he came over last night and wouldn’t leave so he crashed on the couch.”

Alberich looked over at Oliver, “Ahh, good morning, your highness. What brings you to my humble abode?” The prince looked up at the older man for a moment then back down at his knees, “Umm…well, I came asking for your help, sir… Sorry for intruding without giving a heads up, it was a last-minute decision…”

“Sounds serious. Lutz make another pot of coffee, it sounds like our guest has quite the story to tell.”  The older man asked, hearing a grumble from Lutz as he went to prepare that. Alberich then set his possessions down in a corner and pulled a chair out near Oliver. “You’ve grown a lot since I saw you in the forest, your highness.” The prince gave a small smile, feeling a bit comfortable around the other man’s fatherly tone and openness, “Thank you, sir, and please, just call me, Oliver.”  The father nodded, “Alright, Oliver, now that I’m settled in, begin your story.” _Here I go…but why am I nervous? Alberich doesn’t seem like the type to kick out people for a story they told…_

Oliver began to explain his visit – he told the whole family about his magic and why he had to hide it for years. He told them about the outbursts at different times, explained the party’s events, and about what happened at the party, and of the king’s decision.  He felt so nervous and sick, that he just kept his head down as he finished. “I don’t want to intrude on you, sir, but I have no where else to go…I figured that if the magic is gone, e-everything will go back to normal…or somewhat normal.” He highly doubted those rumors will die down within week considering what happened at the party. Alberich and his sons, who sat at the table now, taking all the information in. The older man hummed as he thought this over, “That is quite the predicament. Allister’s fear of us was pushed by his father, his grandfather and probably his great grandfather – so I’m not surprised why he acted like that. Unfortunately, Oliver, you can’t get rid of your magic – it’s a part of you and taking away someone’s magic is pretty much taking a part of their soul. Even if I had the ability to do so, the end results can be…detrimental to the person and it’s not a state that anyone wants to be in.”

 That made the pink haired man sink into his seat in defeat, “But, what I can do, is teach you how to hone that magic and use it to your advantage. As a matter of fact, all three of us can teach you – my sons are highly skilled with their magic and can make excellent teachers.”

Gilen shrugged, “Fine by me as long as you don’t mind animals.”

His younger brother was more on the defense, “Wait, I’m not agreeing to this! Just put a blocking spell on the kid and send him back home.”

 Their father sipped his coffee, “That could be an option, but first, let’s test this magic the prince has. Oliver,” He gestured for the pink prince to follow him, heading back outside with the two brothers following behind. All four men stood outside of the home with Alberich moving Oliver’s horse out of the way to a safe side of the house. “Now Oliver,” he began, standing beside the young man, “you see that that boulder over there by the stream?”

“Yes…”

“I want you to focus on sending your magic to one of your hands and aim for that boulder. Clear your mind of all the stress and just thing about the magic.” Alberich replied, watching as the prince nodded. Oliver took a deep breath, closing his eyes – he figured this was kind of the same as when he used little magic to help the flowers grow. He thought about just the magic, feeling the coolness of it creep through his body. “Good…aim when you’re ready.” The elder Beilschmidt replied, noticing the markings that were creeping up on Oliver’s arms. The prince was relaxed, ready to aim, but his father’s voice came into his mind – the same words repeating whenever the subject of mages _. ‘Dangerous beings’ ‘not needed’ ‘Terrifying to the people’_ – this made Oliver clench his fist, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” He jerked his hand and the magic lashed out, hitting not only the bolder, cracking it in half but also hitting the two trees behind it, knocking them down. “Ah! S-Sorry…!”

Both brothers were shocked, with Gilen whistling, “Wow! That’s quite a blast!” Lutz blinked and straightened his back, thanking the gods he didn’t get that yesterday. Oliver sunk to his knees, staring at the damage he did and unaware of markings covering him once more, panting from using a big chunk of energy. “Hmm…I see… that was quite entertaining, actually.” Alberich replied, understand what he was working with now, “Oliver? Are you okay?” The smaller man looked up at him, taking the hand that was offered to get back on his feet, “No…I was fine and thought I had it controlled but then I could hear my dad’s voice saying how he felt about mages. It was clear in my head and I ended up focusing on that instead…it made me angry…”

“That is normal; sometimes emotions can be as unpredictable as our magic- but I understand the type of magic you have..”

“You do?” The young man asked, looking up with a peaked interest.

Alberich nodded and helped Oliver over to sit on the outdoor chair he had, “Tell me, what do you know about a mage’s magic?” The prince rubbed his head, feeling worn out now, “Only from what I read in the 2 books I had at home. I know that it’s been around for hundreds of years and that there’s a lot of creatures in tune with it…honestly, I don’t know much, and other book were out of my reach.”  The older man nodded, “Well, here – brief history of magic for you until I can give you one of my books – magic in Yashil appeared from 5 patron gods that protect us. Each one provided their own source of magic for the beings living here – it’s what brings creatures and humans together to coexist.” He held up a hand, making sure that Oliver was paying attention, and pointed to a finger, “Redell, Siemis, Ayja, Erus, and Oldir. The five gods we all look up to that each represent multiple ideals and beliefs. Most magic derives from them in some form and it’s up to the person to learn how to shape it into how we want it.”

Oliver blinked, slowly understanding, “I know them…there’s a statue for each one of them in the palace and in the city.” Alberich nodded and continued, “Yes, but there’s a 6th goddess that people have forgotten but not the mages.” The prince was confused, and the brother leaned in closer with a slight surprise on their faces. “I’m not following…I’ve only been taught about those 5.” The father scoffed a bit, “I’m not surprised about that because the 6th one is Vaena, goddess of freedom, family, but most importantly, the goddess of magic.  She’s the one who provided Yashil with magic and some believe she’s the mother of the other gods.” Alberich held Oliver’s hands in his own, showing off the markings that remained on the prince’s arms, “You are one of the very few mages in Yashil that are directly in tuned with Vaena. Those with this magic often get the magic late, hence, why you got it at 13 instead of the usual age of 10. If they’re not trained properly, their magic will be out of control because it does derive often with your emotions. A big part of this, are your markings that appear on your arms when you use the magic – are they just on your arms?”  The prince shook his head, “No. They’re on my back and shoulders too…most of the time they will disappear after an hour but the one’s on the upper body are permanently there. Is there some significance to them being there?”

Alberich nodded, “They’re to define you as a mage of Vaena. These mages can do great things when trained properly, but, they can also bring destruction as well. When the academy was destroyed, it was one of these mages who was forced to tear it down in one blast. It’s a good thing you arrived because after you party incident, there could be much more damage if you don’t learn to focus your magic on something else.”

Hearing this information, it took a moment for Oliver to let this sink in, realizing his predicament was much bigger than he thought. Lutz and Gilen were just as quiet, both thinking about what their father just said, while Alberich remained just as calm as he was earlier, “Oliver, I can offer you my help to teach you everything I know, with both of my sons helps,” He gave a side eye specifically to Lutz who folded his arms, “as well as open my home to you. What I ask in return is to help with chores and drop the title of prince. Here, we’ll treat you as Oliver, a fellow mage, not Oliver, the prince.” Thinking this over, a small relief came over the prince – he was unsure why, but it felt good to hear that. “I can do that.”

The older Beilschmidt smile and patted Oliver’s shoulder as he stood up, “Welcome to the Beilschmidt home, Oliver. I’m sure Gilen can find some old clothes that can fit you and Lutz can fill you in on the rest of the rules of our home.”

Lutz was not amused with the decisions, “We’re seriously not keeping the pink spot here are we?” Gilen snickered at his younger brother, “Why not? It’s good to have someone closer to your age to talk to! You won’t have to talk to Khonr all the time!”

“Oi! I have very good conversations with him!” The wolf that was residing near the group wagged its tail and Oliver now knew the name of the familiar. Gilen then looked at the pink man, “Hey, kiddo, really quick! How old are you?”

Oliver blinked, “22…”

“Ahh! Perfect! He’s only 2 years younger than you, brother! You’ll get along just fine.” The snow haired man replied, patting Lutz’ shoulder, “There is no way you’re 22 and I am not going be all chummy with him.” Lutz replied in disbelief, making his brother laugh and head towards the door, “Good luck!” He waved to them and headed back inside, with his father shaking his head, “Come back in and we can discuss this more. My feet are killing me from that trek back here.” Oliver nodded and slowly got back to his feet but standing up was a bad idea – he forgot that a lot of his energy was gone from that blast. He wobbled and felt light headed, “I don’t feel so good…” The older Beilschmidt frown, “Come on. Let’s get you to the couch.” They walked back inside, and Oliver headed for the couch, laying down once more with Alberich pulling the blanket onto him.  The prince was out like a light and an order to keep quiet was made. 

The older two Beilschmidt men were accepting of the decisions made, but Lutz still wasn’t on board with it. He was totally fine with sending Oliver back home and not have to deal with any other Sheston civilian again. All three of them were sitting at the table to catch up, with dinner cooking over the fire, he decided to bring up his frustrations, “Father, why aren’t we sending the kid back?” Alberich glanced at his son, “You heard every word I said, Lutz…you don’t approve of my decision?”

Lutz folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, “No, I don’t. Everyone in that stupid city see’s us as awful beings and that royal family is one of the worst ones to promote that hatred. If an enemy is antagonizing you, you don’t welcome his son thinking everything is all good.” Lutz explained, keeping an even tone but his words showed his anger, “I don’t approve of him in our house, especially since it won’t be long until their guards come looking for him.” Alberich listened, folding his arms, “Lutz, I understand your frustrations, but you have to be more open minded here. No, I don’t like Allister and his actions piss me off as much as it pisses you off – but I am not taking it out on a young man who is in the dark about his own abilities. What kind of people would be if you decided to stoop that low? Think about it; he’s safer here than anywhere in that city. Think about it: sending Oliver back to a den of hungry lions could be far worse – from what we’ve heard, he could be sent to the gallows before sunset.”  

Sighing heavily, the violet eyed man looked away, knowing his father was making sense. “…fine…but it doesn’t mean I am happy with this decision.”

His father shrugged, “That’s fine. But I expect you to treat our guest nicely while he’s here.” Lutz rolled his eyes, “Yea, yea, I understand…”

“Good.”

Waking up from his unexpected nap, Oliver was hungry once more and felt icky. Sitting up, he could smell himself, felt his hair was a mess, and there was a loud growl from his stomach. He was half awake when a bag full of clothing was tossed into his lap by Lutz, “Gilen found some cloths for you.” The pink prince looked at the bag then at the other man, “Thank you…but is there any place I can freshen up?”  Lutz sighed and grabbed a smaller bag from a drawer, “Come on. Dad wants me to explain the rules to you anyways.” Slipping his shoes back on, the prince grabbed the large back and followed the other back out. They walked along a small path that lead from the front door towards the back of the house. “We have a couple of rules to follow here: Rule one, everyone does chores. Whether it’s cleaning, cooking, and well in your case now, feeding that horse f yours.” Lutz glanced back at Oliver with a smirk, “Think a prince can handle a few chores?”

Oliver just rolled his eyes, “I can do chores, Lutz. I wasn’t always sitting around with a book in my hand with someone serving me all the time.”

“Right…anyways, rule two, everyone contributes. My family run a small business and each of us do something to help it.” He was about to continue but stopped when Oliver asked, “What kind of business?” Lutz stopped and looked back at him again, “Weaponry and magic charms with simple magic in them. We make them all in there, “he pointed to a smaller work shop nearby, “we also send little hand made wooden items I make in my spare time. Gilen and father are the ones who often go into the town and I stay behind to manage the house.” The prince walked up closer to be side by side of the larger man, “Why not?”

Lutz folded his arms, “I hate the town. Even as a kid, I never liked it because it was too loud for me.” Oliver felt like there was more to that but didn’t push it, he just rolled his eyes, “Any more rules?” Those violet eyes looked back own at him, “Yes! The last, and most important rule is: never reveal where we live to anyone in Sheston.” Once again, the smaller man was confused, “But how did I know where to find the house? One of the maids told me to come straight here.” Lutz gave an exasperated sigh, “Okay, let me rephrase it then: never reveal where we live to non-magic folk. Those with magic can find the place and anyone who knows specifically where we are probably have been here a couple times. It’s not uncommon to have other mages stop by to talk to my dad.” _Guess I can accept that…I don’t feel so trapped now and father won’t find…unless he sends one of those guards…,_ Oliver thought. “Those don’t seem too hard to follow. I can handle all that and chores around the house.”

“Good.” Lutz led them to small lake, tossing the small bag to Oliver, “Here. There’s soap  in the bag and you can go clean up in there.” Oliver looked at the bag, smelling a hint scent of lavender, but hesitated to do anything. He glanced at the taller man who gave him an annoyed look, “Don’t look at me like that. Sorry it’s not some fancy bubble bath with fancy oils!”

Oliver shook his head, “It’s not that…I’m not doing it while you’re standing there”

“Why not? We’re both men and have the same things in our pants!” Lutz saw the other man blush and chuckle as Oliver waved him away, “Go back to the house! I can get cleaned up without your help!” The Beilschmidt man folded his arms, “You know you’re just wasting time! Any long and it’s going to be too dark for you to get washed up!” The prince took off his shoe and tossed it at Lutz, missing his head, “Just go!”

Lutz snapped back, “Gods you don’t have be such a prissy baby about it!” The second shoe came and smacked him right in the face, “Gahh! Fine! I hope a fish bites your ass!” With that, he stomped back up towards the house, grumbling about ‘stupid brat’ and rubbing his face. Once Lutz was out of site, Oliver began to strip the dirty clothes off and walked into the cold water, flinching at the freezing temperature. It felt good though, especially when the water reached the tensions in his shoulders. The prince submerged himself into the water, came back up and grabbed the lavender soap, beginning to wash two days stink off his skin. Washing in a lake made the man wondering what his family would think of him washing like this; his mother always promoted good cleaning and found the lake to be ‘dirty and unhealthy’.

 Honestly, Oliver didn’t care about that right now because cleaning his body was more important than anything. When finished, the smell of lavender was strong him as the prince dug through the larger back to find an old towel, drying himself off then wrapping around his waist. The rest of bag was stuffed with shirts, pants, couple of shoes and a hat – all of them with shades of brown and grey.  It took him a few minutes to figure out what fit his small body, but all the clothing was still big. Oliver used his own belt to keep the pants on and he tied the bottom of the shirt, so it wouldn’t hang too low on either side. He glanced at his old clothes, tucking all the royal clothes into the bag.

The only thing he kept on, were the three earrings that he was known for wearing. Oliver always felt cute wearing them and wouldn’t give them up for anything. When everything was done, he slipped on the worn-out boots that fit like a glove on his feet. Feeling better and clean, the prince grabbed everything and headed back up the path towards the house. He saw Lutz, sitting down with Khonr sitting in front of him getting pets from its master. The wolf glanced back at Oliver and Lutz looked up to see the freshly cleaned prince. That pink hair was half dry and was curling, which Lutz did find kind of cute but wasn’t going to tell the other. “Ahh, nice! You smell much better now! You were starting to smell a little funny there!”

“It wasn’t that bad! You smell even worse with that wolf all on you!” Oliver called out, flinching when the wolf growled at him as if defending Lutz. “Easy, Khonr! He’s just a pup whose all bark and no bite.” The violet eyed man replied with snarky attitude as he stood up. He folded his arms and kept the smirk on his face as he looked down at this skinny brat was trying act tough. “Oi! I’m no pup, mister! You expected me to be gone by lunch time but now I’m going to stay, so HAH!”

 _Oooh, this brat is so lucky he’s a guest! Otherwise, I would have him on that horse and hightailing out of here in no time!_ Lutz thought, backing down as he headed to the front door, “Fine! We’ll see how long you last with my father’s kind of training!” He gave a big bellied laugh, heading inside, making Oliver nervous as what he meant by that. But he was not going to be stirred away by this man, “What a jerk…” He stared at the door for a moment, noticing that Khonr was still outside near him. The wolf gave a small warning growl and walked back inside to join its master. “First, I’m going to turn that wolf into a rug…” Whether it was a joke or not, Oliver didn’t like the wolf, making mental notes not to cross with it. He sighed and headed inside the house – being the official guest of the Beilschmidt family.


	4. New Turns and Enlightenment

The days after Oliver became a temporary guest became relentless and tiring. Alberich as a father and host was nice, welcoming and open – but Alberich as a teacher, was stern and a little aggressive. They had a routine: they woke up at sunrise, Lutz or Gilen would make breakfast, Oliver will study the books he was given by Alberich or help with chores, then after lunch they trained until sunset. The older Beilschmidt’s form of training was strenuous with exercises like focusing magic to move boulders, bending trees with eyes closed, and shaping food into other things. The prince did his best but failed each time, eventually collapsing from exhaustion after his 10th time. It wasn’t too bad but every time he glanced at Lutz the violet eyed man gave him a sneer as if mentally telling him ‘I told you so’. For 2 weeks this happened with nothing improving, making Alberich wonder what else he can do differently with his pupil.  

It was in the middle of the third week when the pink haired man got up from his makeshift bed on the couch to read one of the books. His body ached from running laps around the lake and it was still an hour or so until sunrise. Lighting the nearby candle, Oliver was reading a book titled “History of Magic Volume 2” having read the first one twice already because it was fascinating. One thing he did enjoy were the books that he was borrowing because they showed a side of history that his own tutors never said. Oliver felt comfortable knowing that mages shaped Shesten, not just his great, great grandfather.  Thinking of home made him feel a little sick as he wondered what his family could be doing or if they were still searching for him. Oliver sighed and closed the book, slipped on his boots and headed outside, needing the fresh air to clear his mind. The Beilschmidt men would be up soon so to pass the time, he went to greet his horse – Gilen built a small, enclosed place for the animal to keep it safe, which Oliver couldn’t be more thankful for. Receiving nudges from the large animal, the young man smiles, chuckling before noticing some flowers that were dying on the side of the house.

By the looks of them, none of the men in the house took any time to water them. Oliver grumbled, wondering if simple gardening was out of their list of skills and chores. He leaned down and held a hand over them, using his magic the same way he did back home. Within seconds, each flower popped up, brighter than they were before. It made him smile and he began to do the same with all the plants that were dying alongside the house. Oliver may not be able to move boulders, but he sure as hell can make plants grow. Sunrise came, and the house was now surrounded by flowers of all colors. He found an attempt at a vegetable garden, wondering who tried this and gave up on it. The prince leaned down, touching the ground, watching as bright green sprouts came up. “Okay. That’s enough magic on them. I’ll water them for the rest of the time.”

 While this was happening, Alberich was up and noticed him in the window, humming as he began to reconsider his training. He realized that his way of using magic wasn’t going to work like it did for his sons, then felt a bit guilty for pushing the kid too hard. By breakfast time, the four of them were sitting and eating in silence until Alberich spoke up, “Oliver, I am changing your training exercise today.”

Oliver swallowed the bite of food in his mouth and frowned, “I see…I’m sorry, sir, but I really am trying. Nothing seems to happen no matter how many times I try and I- “He stopped when a hand rose up from his host, “I’m changing it because it’s not working, Oliver. I saw what you did earlier with the plants outside – even Gilen couldn’t figure out that garden no matter how many times he tried.”

The snowy haired man shrugged, “Hey, at least I made an attempt.” Lutz rolled his eyes, “An attempt that failed horribly.” He got elbowed by his older brother as Alberich spoke again, “What I am deciding on, is instead of moving boulders, I want you to relax and do what comes to mind.” Oliver smiled brightly, “Thank you, sir! This is really helpful because honestly, the training sucks for me!”

The two brothers stopped and looked shocked, knowing that calling their dad’s training was an instant result of him snapping. They braced themselves for the scary side of their father – but instead a snap, Alberich chuckled, giving a dumbfounded look on the brothers. “I suppose they are a bit outdated. Finish eating, and we’ll begin our revamped training, okay?” The prince smiled more and nodded, “Thank you, sir!” He happily finished his food as Lutz called his dad out, “What the hell, dad?? If any us said that we would be on the ground doing push-ups!” Gilen looked annoyed, “Why does he get off Scot free?”

“Easy. He’s my guest, not my two stubborn sons.” The man replied, sipping his drink nonchalantly and ignoring the annoyed glares of his sons.

Oliver held back a giggle, knowing very well that he was giving special treatment because he was a guest. Lutz shot him a look and it was the prince’s turn to give him a smug smile. After they ate, all the men headed outside, looking at the numerous flowers that gave the house a little whimsical look. Alberich pulled his hair back into a ponytail and glanced at Oliver, “Oliver, you told me before that you used your magic in the garden, correct?” Oliver nodded, “Yes, sir! If you ever went into town and heard people talking about how beautiful the palace gardens were, it was because of me. It was relaxing seeing everything grow and I often forgot about my tattoos appearing because it was relaxing.”  The older man smiled, “Good. Now, close your eyes and do what comes to mind – anything that feels comfortable to you.” 

Nodding once more, Oliver stepped back and took a deep breath, closing his eyes to think. At first, he thought about just growing more plants around them, but then he remembered what he read in one of the books. It was a story that is becoming his favorite of a mage that always used their magic to create things – whether it was their own clothes or toys for kids, their whole goal was make everything ‘beautiful’. The young man felt the coolness of the markings and magic flow through his body as he held up his hands. Then, as he waved his hand up, feeling the ground rumble beneath his feet: it made the other three men stay on alert on what was going to happen. Soon, by the stream, a large tree appeared with flowers that matched Oliver’s hair, making the family stare in awe. The prince lowered his hands and opened his eyes to see what he created, softly gasping at the tree. “Wow…” Alberich clapped and went over to inspect the trunk, “A fully grown, blooming peach tree. Impressive.” The rest of them walked over to the tree and Gilen sniffed the air, “It’s been years since we had any fruit trees. Once their ripe, we can sell them in town – especially before the fall and winter seasons.” His father nodded, “I agree. Oliver, what made you think of this?”

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck, “It was from a story I read in one of your books. I liked the moral and well, I’ve always wanted a peach tree.” Alberich patted his shoulder, “Well done. It looks like we found your niche, Oliver – it’s emotion conjuring. I’m not surprised and it’s probably just stating the obvious but now, we can get somewhere.” Lutz remained quite with this, folding his arms and hating this – even though it’s been almost 3 weeks, he was hoping that the prince would be gone at the end of the month. He was still not trusting Oliver and still was on guard in case they wake up with the king’s mages at their door. Stepping off to the side, Lutz watched as his own dad praised Oliver for one small thing feeling like all the work he’s done for years meant nothing because it was all to keep them living. _The sooner he’s gone, the sooner we can move on with our lives…_

* * *

 

With search after search and no results, the Kirkland family were getting worried. No one caught sight of the soft pink hair of the prince and he wasn’t in his usually places. The rumors from the party died down, but now, there were rumors about Oliver’s whereabouts. Some said he ran away with a secret lover or is hiding in plain sit to avoid the search parties. It was a stressful enough having to deal with a missing child for the family without these rumors. Not only that, Arthur’s coronation to take the throne was nearing, so the oldest Kirkland child was focusing on finding a potential fiancé. Each day he was taking up his father’s duties to give his parents more time to go find Oliver and make some connections with some families.  Allister was doing this out of his deep guilt for what he said, and his wife wasn’t smiling as much because she didn’t feel complete without all her children there with him.  Whenever he passed the paintings of the former kings before him, it made him nervous, as if they were judging the current king’s decision. All Allister wanted right now is to have his son back home with his family then they’ll decide what to do about his magic side.

Arthur was in his temporary office, looking through documents from nearby cities when a maid came in. She curtsied then spoke, “Sorry to disturb, your highness, but you have a visitor.” The blond man looked up, raising an eyebrow, “Who is it?” The girl was about to say when Ivan walked in, receiving a royal glare from the eldest prince. The maid left them, and Ivan spoke once the door closed, “I came to give me condolences for your missing brother. I know the pain of a missing family can be worrisome.”

“Spare me your worries, Ivan. Why are you here? We’re not accepting any guests right now.” The prince replied, keeping an steady tone in his voice, even though he was annoyed right now.  Ivan walked over and sat down in front of the desk, folding his arms and speaking, “I came with a proposal. Something that can ease your stress of become king and to finally rid of all the rumors that people are spreading.” Arthur raised an eyebrow and sat his pen down, folding his arms as he leaned back to listen, “Fine, I’ll bite. What is this proposal that’s going to solve all our problems?” 

The Braginksy man smiled and held a hand out, “Send out those royal mages to find your brother, bringing him back, and have him marry my sister or some other noble woman. You’ll get your brother back and those silly rumors about him will be gone because no one will believe a prince was in the company of me, if they know he was getting married to one of the eligible women.” Arthur immediately shook his head, “No! Absolutely not! It’s demeaning, it’s unfair to Oliver and it’s archaic! I want my brother back as much as everyone else, but I am not using him for whatever personal gain you want, Ivan.”  The silver haired man was not phased by the protest, “Arthur, when you become king, you’re going to be expected to carry on the protection of this city, right? That means keeping mages in line if they want to live here – if not marriage, then when he returns, I demand that he is locked away to keep everyone safe because he is a threat. I’m not the only one who saw that attack at the party, Arthur, and I’ve discussed this with them:they’re starting to think that the royal family is hiding a dangerous mage in their home and not caring about their safety.”

The Kirkland swore on his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, “What is it with your blood Braginksy and your damn blackmailing? I can’t agree with any of those options.”

Ivan shrugged, “Okay, but think of this scenario – you come into the throne as king, harbor a mage that has attacked many members of a couple prominent families, making many Shesten citizens question if the royal family can really protect them, then once you continuous to dodge any change they start to disbelieve anything you say – then boom! You are being question as king and other people wanting you to be off the  throne, dropping generations of history to protect this glorious city. Does this sound good to you, your highness?” Arthur held up a hand, “Okay! I got it!” he sighed, “Give me some time to figure out a place at least.”

Ivan nodded, “I can hold the rumors back for now, but I do hope you make a smart decision, Arthur, for all of our safety.” With that, he stood up and excused himself, leaving the prince to recollect his thoughts. Arthur leaned back in his chair, sighing and running his finger through his golden hair, “Fuck…as if I didn’t have enough on my plate right now…” He glanced out the window that overlooked a part of the city, knowing as soon-to-be king, Arthur had to make decisions and fast. “Oliver…where the hell are you…?”

* * *

 

A month passed since the summer solstice party and Oliver has felt freer in such a short time than he ever did in the last 9 years. Which said something when someone else’s family is more accepting than your own. With Alberich’s teaching and now Gilen teaching him how to connect better with wildlife, the prince was happy – to a point. The only one he couldn’t get through to was Lutz, the first Beilschmidt that got into this training. Whenever Oliver tried to talk to Lutz or impress him with something, the taller man would brush it aside like it was meaningless. When the group of them were talking at dinner, all of Lutz’ attention was on his family and barely on their house guest. Alberich took noticed of his and wasn’t sure on which boy was the most stubborn – so, he had an idea for the weekend.  The only thing he told the boys were to be packed and ready in the morning; Gilen was in on the plan and packed so the other two wouldn’t suspected anything.

That following morning, the four of them gathered in front of the house and Alberich spoke up, “Listen you two, I’ve been thinking about it and it’s about time we take Oliver to the Misty Loch.” Lutz smiled at the mention of the name, getting excited as a confused prince looked at Gilen, “What is Misty Loch?” The snow haired man smiled, “Misty loch is where you’ll find all the creatures you don’t find around here.”

“You mean like bears and wolves?” Oliver asked, seeing Gilen shake his head, “Nope. More like unicorns, wyverns, and forest spirits.” This made the smaller man just as excited as the brothers, but also a little scared because he remembered the book he found in the palace library. Alberich handed a folded note to Oliver, “Read this when get to the checkpoint.” The prince blinked a bit and stuffed the note into his pocket, following the older man with bag in hand as the four of them headed out. The trek led them deeper into the forest, further then Oliver’s ever been but it was exciting. He was so wrapped into looking around, he almost didn’t hear Alberich’s warnings to keep safe in the forest. Eventually they came an open field with another part of the forest just ahead of the group.

 “Ahh! There it is! Misty Loch!” Lutz called out with his familiar wagging its tail excitedly beside him. Gilen glanced at his father while the other two were distracted and nodded, “Father, can I talk you for a second?” The older Beilschmidt nodded and the two of them stepped away, with Oliver looking around the field, “This is beautiful! A picnic would be great here!” Lutz rolled his eyes, “We don’t do picnics around here. Right, Gilen?” He turned to see his family gone, “What the…?? Where did they go?” The prince blinked and turned to see no one behind them – not only that, the opening they come from was now blocked a wall of rocks. “Where did these rocks come from?” The blond man beside him went to push at the rocks and was pushed back, nearly getting knocked off his feet. Lutz did it two more times to no avail, he kept being pushed back by some force. “What the hell? Father? Gilen? re you guy’s there?” He called out, receiving no answer back on the other side.

Oliver was just as confused, sighing and putting his hands in his pockets, feeling the note that was given to him. “Oh yea, your dad gave me this.” He replied, pulling the paper out and unfolding it, “What does it say?” Lutz demanded, getting a side eyed look from the prince before he read:

_“Dear Oliver and Lutz, it has come to my attention that the two of your have yet to bond as friends, let alone as housemates. Living in the same roof, I was expecting you two to at least casually talk, but you both pretend the other doesn’t exist.”_   A scoff came from Lutz. _“So, while you two explore Misty Loch, I want you both to come to some compromise. I put up a barrier to prevent you two from returning early and it won’t disappear until sunrise on Monday. A whole weekend to enjoy Misty Loch and try to form an acquaintance here. Whatever happens between now and Monday, I expect you both to get along and come home in one piece. Have fun, Alberich.”_

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The blond man snapped, walking towards the opening of Misty Loch, “I can’t believe I am stuck with pinkie here all weekend! This is visit is going to suck!” Oliver was just as displeased about this, but he had to keep close to the other out of fear of getting lost, “Don’t get upset with me! I didn’t ask for this either!” Lutz scoffed at him, “Please! You probably talked about this with them both! It seems like you are all buddy, buddy with each other now!” Oliver stopped right at the opening, “Wait a minute! Are you… _jealous_ of me?” It was almost funny to repeat that out loud, but the other man just gave another scoff, “Jealous? Please! I’m just annoyed that some Shesten brat is in my sanctuary and all I want is for you to be gone!” That hurt, and now he can see Lutz’ true colors coming out. They remained silent as they walked into the woods with Oliver keeping his distance behind the other man. Even if he tried to get closer, Khonr would turn to snap at him as if to say, “Back off!”

Even with the overwhelming feeling of magic in the place didn’t change his mood. _I may not like him, but I was still polite…I haven’t even called him names for some time now! I doubt he’ll hold a grudge over that!_ The prince sighed, trying to distract him with the tall trees and serene ambiance of the place. Something caught his attention and he saw a rabbit; but when he looked closer, it wasn’t any old rabbit. It had wings, antlers and fangs, which threw Oliver off, but he still found it to be cute.  He even stopped to kneel to see if it would come closer to him, “Come here…I won’t hurt you…” The rabbit creature perked up, sniffing at him then scooted closer to him – it looked even more curious then jumped up, flying to land on the prince’s shoulders. “Oh! Hello there!” He stood up and carefully walked again, smiling when the rabbit rubbed against his cheek, “You’re a cute one!” Lutz stopped to glance behind him to look at them, turning to look away again, “They bite, you know.”  Oliver wasn’t buying it, “Maybe they only bite you because you’re a jerk.” The violet eyed man didn’t retaliate, he just kept walking and the other and continued to follow him with the winged rabbit sitting on his shoulder like a bird.

The two of them continued to walk in silence, only seeing a couple of deer, birds and two more fanged rabbits that were now following Oliver. A few hours passed with no word said between them which was getting too awkward his liking. So, he tread in dangerous waters – he tried to make conversation, “You seem to know this place pretty well.” A shrug came from the larger man,“Of course I do. I come here often and it’s only normal to walk around in a place you’re all too familiar with.” It was curt and quick but getting Lutz to speak was still a success. “Are you going towards a campsite?” He asked, seeing the blond look around, “There’s no campsites. I walk until I get tired and stop at where ever I am. Usually near a stream so I can fish.” Oliver gave a small smile because now he was breaking the silence; he just had to be careful still. “I’ve never gone fishing. Is it easy to do?” Lutz now looked at him, “Are you serious? It’s one of the easiest tasks to do if you know what you’re doing. If you have a knife and a good stick, you can manage to find food anywhere.”  Oliver smiled looking around – he couldn’t see a stream, but he can hear trickling water, “Can…you teach me when we reach to a stream?” There was silence. He started to think he crossed a line, looking down and looking at the winged rabbit that was still hanging onto him. “I’ll think about it…” It wasn’t much but Oliver still happy he got answers from Lutz.

No one knew how deep the two men were walking but as they walked, the more if felt different to Oliver than the part of the forest they lived in. It was exciting, new, nerve racking and exciting all at once for the prince – though, there was the feeling of being watched. He scooted a little closer to Lutz, looking around them as they climbed over broken logs. “There aren’t any bad creatures around here are there?” Lutz stopped to watch the smaller man climb over, “Define bad.” Oliver looked behind him, “I mean, things that will attack us.”  This time, the violet eyed man folded his arms and scoffed, “Of course there is. You’re in a place where a wyvern the size of our house can come out any moment.” He then laughed when he saw the prince flinched, “So predictable! Ahaha! Calm down, pinkie, if something did attack us, we were taught how to defend ourselves. Or did you forget you have magic?”  Didn’t take long to get that annoyance back for the other, “I didn’t forget! I’m only asking because I’ve never been here before!” Lutz sighed, “Don’t start, pinkie!”

“Excuse me! You’re the one giving attitude with all your stupid ac- “Oliver was cut off by the blond man’s hand raising up saying ‘shush’, “What the? How dare cut me off! Don't tell me to shush!”

“Oliver shut up!” Lutz snapped, but before the prince can protest a deep growl echoed nearby, making the winged rabbit on his shoulder flinch and fly away. Khonr sensed the danger as well, growling deeply and looking behind them, hackles up to attack. Soon, a large wild cat jumped in front of them, snarling at the group - the prince stare at the creature, taking note of it's fangs and horns on its head,signifying that it wasn't an ordinary predator. Taking affirmative action, the Beilschmidt man grabbed Oliver’s arm, “Run!” The two men kicked it into gear and turning down a different direction,, hearing a roar from the wild feline and its heavy foot steps hitting on the ground. The prince was bewildered, running as fast as he could, wondering if they can outrun the creature that  was chasing the two men. Lutz took a sharp turn, running until he took another sharp turn – wanting to keep going until they no longer heard running or hear the growling. he did his best to his his own magic to knock down trees to block the feline, but his main focus was to get out sight from it. Oliver tried his best to keep but, but even he couldn’t manage the same speed of running this man was doing.  The men took another sharp turn, but it led to a small hill, causing them to tumble and fall until they landed just a few feet near a stream. Lutz huffed and rolled on his back, catching his breath, “Well that was exhilarating! Ehehe…still alive, pinkie?” A small groan came from the pink man as he slowly sat up, holding his head, “Ugh…I feel like my horse kicked me in the head…”

“Good! Just means the gods haven’t taken you just yet!” The violet eyed man gave big old laugh, letting it be his own relief. “What in all 6 gods names, was that thing? And did we really have to run like that?!” Oliver snapped, moving closer to the water to throw some into his face. “It’s all part of being here, pinkie. It’s either fight or flight and chose flight – all part of surviving in Misty Loch! As for what that was, they're called fire scourge; big felines that lurk around the loch. They usually stalk at night but that one must have been hungry to come out during the day.” He chuckled, slipping off his bag then going to clean up in the stream. “Come on, you can’t deny it was exciting!” Oliver raised an eyebrow at the other, “You and I have two different ideas of what ‘exciting’ was.” He drunk a couple handfuls of water then finally relaxed, wandering what was going to happened next. Lutz walked over to a nearby tree; a small purple glow surrounded his hands and he snapped off two, thick branches from the tree. Oliver watched, not used to seeing the other man use his magic often like he did with the other two Beilschmidt men did. “What are you doing?”

Lutz pulled a knife out of his boot then chucked at the end of both sticks, “You want to learn how to fish, don’t you? All that running made me hungry.” The blue-eyed man stood up at the mention of that, “Yes! I do!” _I thought he would forget me asking…neat!_ “Okay then, take this, “the large man handed Oliver one of the sharp branches, “the key is to watch for the slowest fish and be quick.” The moved to the edge of the water, looking down to see a few fish swim back, “Just wait…and stab!” Lutz stabbed at the water and lifted the stick up to show a wobbling fish, amazing the prince. “Wow…umm…okay, let me try.” Oliver stepped away from Lutz and did exactly what the other man did – he didn’t grab anything. “Mmf…they’re too fast!” A small snicker came from Lutz, “Well they’re not going to just sit there and say, ‘here I am’! Try again.” Huffing a bit, the prince positioned himself once more, taking more time to really watch the fish swim. He then stabbed the water again, lifting the stick up to a small fish wiggling on it, “Ahh!! I got one!” Oliver exclaimed, looking proud of himself as he showed Lutz, “Good! Now catch m ore because that one is not going to fill you up.” Agreeing with that, the two men began to stab at the water – they managed to catch 9 fish within an hour. Lutz used his magic to moved rocks and logs to create a place to cook the fish. Soon, the two men were sitting by a fire, cooking and eating their lunch. There was still silence but Oliver was glad they were doing something else besides bickering. _Maybe now that we’re tired from running and satisfied with food, I can properly talk to him…_

“Lutz?”

“Hm?”

_Good, he’s acknowledging me…kind of_ , “Um…why…do you hate me so much?”

Lutz stopped halfway with his 3rd fish, hesitating to answer before leaning back on his free hand, “I don’t hate you specifically.” Oliver raised an eyebrow, “Then what is it?” The larger man was thinking, debating if he really wanted to talk. But since he couldn’t go back home right now, and his legs felt numb from the unexpected running. _You win this time, pinkie…_ “Look, I don’t hate you– it’s just everything and everyone from Shesten that makes me annoyed. You see, we used to live there- I was born and raised in Sheston, even went to school there for a while.” He took a bite of his food, “But due to some events, the whole place just gives a bad taste in my mouth and it's an ugly reminder to me.”  Listening to the other talk, Oliver thought it over, picking out a few bones from his food, “May I ask why? If it’s not too much…”

Another sigh came, this time, it was heavier, “My mother. She was a mage as well and used it often, hiding it like my dad did. She was a teacher but also helped heal those who couldn’t reach a doctor in time:a good woman,always smiling. Neither of my parents wanted to be registered as mages because it meant they had to report to the king – something my dad refused to do. We hid from the royal guards until I was about 12 when someone caught my mom using her magic to fix a kid’s broken arm.” Lutz ran his free hand through his hair, “Next thing I knew, we had the king’s mages at our door, demanding for my mother to come out. All I remember of that day was Gilen taking my hand and our parents telling us to run. We ran in the middle of the night, getting away from our home and sleeping in an alley until my dad found us the next morning. He hardly spoke and just said we were leaving the city.” A slight pained look swept over Lutz’ face, "It wasn’t till days later we found out that the king – your dad – hung her at the gallows with other mages in front of a crowd to announce to hundreds of people that magic was bad and death was the only thing for those who misused.” He shot a glare at Oliver, making the prince flinch, “So that’s why I hate that damned city and everyone in it. They ruined my family and gods, I was angry that when we saw you in that forest that day, I wanted that creature to tear you to shreds so the king could feel the same pain of losing someone he loved because of his stupid family traditions, I lost someone dear to me!” He didn’t realize he was nearly standing up and shouting at the other man; sighing, the man sat back down, letting Khonr lick his cheek to calm him. "I had years of grudges against the royals and that whole city...once we kept our distance, I felt happier to not have to hide. So when I saw you at my door, that anger came back and I just wanted you gone."

Oliver remained quiet as he let the information sinking, choosing his words wisely because whatever he said next could make or break their conversation. “I…didn’t know that…mmff...I admit I was sheltered from that – even at 10 years old, things like that were hidden from me and I never really questioned it.” He chewed on his bottom lip, “Lutz, I can’t understand how you feel and probably never fully will. But…I-I’m not my father or my grandfather…I don’t want to kill mages, I don’t want to lead your family astray…hell, I don’t want to bring any ill harm to your family. Coming to your house, I thought I would gone quick like you wanted, but for once in my life I’ve been accepted. Back home, I always wanted to learn more about how magic shaped Yashil, but was quickly shot down each time and as I got older, I saw the fear in my dad's eyes when the subject came up.” He sighed softly, “Look…I’m not asking you to forget your anger for Shesten or of my father, or completely forget years of pain. All am I’m asking is be my friend because I need a friend right now and…I think you need one too. Family is great but sometimes you need someone outside of it to talk about things that they can't fully understand - I'll be that friend."

There was silence among the men, but Lutz gave a small smile, “You really are persistent, pinkie.” He looked up so their met eye to eye, “I’ll have to get used to having a friendship, but I suppose I can give it a chance with you. Besides, it’s kind of nice not being the youngest one around anymore, hehe…” Seeing that small smile made Oliver feel happy because now they two of them are getting passed the point of always arguing or ignoring the other. “I would like that very much, Lutz.” He then held out a hand to the other, “Friends?” Lutz looked at the hand, sighing before shaking hands with the prince, “Yea, I guess we are.”

Settling camp there, the two of them began to slowly talk for the afternoon. The main points discussed was what their interests were - Lutz like weaponry, Oliver loved books; Lutz preferred winter, Oliver liked spring. By sunset, the two of them have been talking for nearly 5 hours and were on the subject of what who had the upper hand when it came to working. The Beilschmidt man didn't realize how good it felt to talk to someone besides his brother - for 14 years it was mostly the two of them with occasional conversations with others when they were in town. Now, talking with Oliver, he noticed that the prince wasn't all that back, still a bit annoying, but not bad and Lutz felt a slight guilt for ignoring him. That night, the two of them were sitting close to the fire, eating more fish they caught and Lutz told the other about all the times his family would come to the forest to get away from everyone for a couple days. He called Misty Loch a 'magic energizer' for any mage or creature that came here, in which Oliver agreed with in fully. Lutz felt good and a little more open to the Oliver with Khonr kind of nearing him to sniff and judge if it still dislike the pink man. It took a month, but the two men were finally getting on a level where they called the other 'a friend'.


	5. Too Many Emotions

That following morning, Lutz was the first to wake, cracking his back – as much as he loved being here, sleeping on the hard ground with his bag as a pillow wasn’t comfortable. When it comes to sleeping in the woods, he preferred his own bed. After relieving himself behind a tree, the man came back to see Oliver curled against the remnants of what used to be their fire with those winged rabbits surrounding. It was odd seeing these skittish animals being so comfortable around the prince when they always ran off when Lutz tried to feed them. There were 5 five of these rabbits curled up around him with one small one asleep in a nest of pink curls. “Heh…well, he is cute when he’s not awake and worked up…”  The pink haired man moved to lay on his back, making the small winged rabbit make a small sound and lay on his face. His hair was slowly being muffled, making Oliver wake up with a groan. “Erff…” He sneezed, waking up his little pack of rabbits, then sat up rubbing his nose.

“Morning.” Lutz replied, snickering at the site he saw of the other with a couple of feathers in his messy hair.

Oliver yawned and looked around himself, “They found me again? Why?”

The larger man shrugged, “Don’t know. Maybe they thought your hair was a bundle of flowers. “He saw the other man roll his eyes as Lutz grabbed his bag, “Now that you’re awake, get cleaned up and ready to head out in a few minutes.” Oliver groaned and yawned again, “So soon?” A chuckle came from the blond man, “Well, we could stay and have another helping of fish. Or we can follow where this river leads to where I’m sure a couple of fruit trees will be at.” Lutz then pointed to the pack that were sniffing at Khonr, making the wolf confused and sniff back. “You can bring your party there too.” Oliver’s stomach growled and wanted fruit instead of fish again for a third time, so he excused himself, disappearing behind a large tree then popped back to pull out a bottle. “Forgot we had these.” He filled it up with water and slipped it back into his back, looking at the taller man, “Alright, I’m ready.”

The men headed out once again to follow the river, fully waking up as birds began to wake as well.  Oliver was enjoying the peacefulness, but remembered the animal that chased them yesterday, hoping to gods that it won’t appear again. For now, he enjoyed the undisturbed trek along the river with their group of winged rabbits trailing along behind the men. “Hey, Lutz, know we’ve talk about a lot yesterday but I am still confused about something.”

Those violet eyes glanced at him, “What is it?”

“You still haven’t really given me a proper answer as to why you’re jealous of me. Honesty, I don’t see what there is to be jealous of.” The prince replied, watching the other sigh and run his fingers through his hair, making it slick back for moment – which Oliver kind of liked. Then Lutz began to explain, “I’m not jealous. When you started staying with us, my dad and brother were quick to accept you and my dad was nice to you instantly. It doesn’t matter who you are, it takes time to get on my dad’s good side yet here you come and he’s completely open to you.”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “Lutz, that’s jealousy. Are you really jealous that your dad was nice to me?” The blond man sighed, “No, I…well...yea, maybe…I just feel like he forgot about the years of pain we’ve gone through being associated with Sheston. There’s probably more reasons why but right now I can’t think of them.” Oh, I’m sure there’s more. That can’t be everything and I know he’s hiding more, the prince thought. “Okay…but you shouldn’t be jealous of me, Lutz. I am not trying to replace you in the family.” Oliver chuckled, moving up to walk besides other man instead of trailing behind him. The larger man groaned a bit, “I now but…gods, I don’t know! I’m not good at explaining how I feel!”

“Easy there! I’m not trying to stay an argument or get you frustrated here.” The prince replied, holding his hands up to show his surrender. Lutz grumbled and looked forward as they climbed over a few large rocks, seeing the opening to the lake up head. “Is that where we’re going?” Oliver asked, looking up at the other man who nodded, “Yea. It’s the main water source in the forest with the water treading down there and breaks off into smaller streams. If you ever get lost, just find the water and follow it to the lake.”  When they came to the lake, Oliver smiled at how pretty the lake was with the sun starting to peek over it.  The longer they stayed in this forest, the more found Misty Loch’s beauty showed, making the prince wonder why he was denied such a place as a kid. Sure, it was dangerous to be here, but it was always peaceful, tranquil, and Oliver was able to clear his mind.  He looked around and spotted the fruit trees Lutz said and he quickly ran over there. “Found them!” Oliver put his bag down and looked at the trees – apples, oranges, and peaches. He hungrily grabbed fruit for them, hearing his stomach growl as he each other; the prince reached up to grab a large apple, but it was out of his reach. Lutz came and easily grabbed, chuckling a bit, “Kind of short there.”

Oliver pouted, “I’m not that short…” He looked at his breakfast, inspecting them for any holes then went to sit by the lake with the rabbits, biting into an apple. It was sweet and juicy, better than any apples back home – Lutz grabbed a few of his own and sat by the prince to eat, letting Khonr run off to fetch its own breakfast. “These are good! How did you know there was fruit trees here?”

“My mom. She planted them and each time we came here, she would water them then add a little bit of magic, so they will continue to grow fruit. The animals around here like them so my dad keeps them up.” Lutz replied, finishing off an orange and working on opening the next one. The prince smiled, liking that the Beilschmidt men – as tough as they are – all have little soft moments like that.  “You know, Lutz, I’ve been with you guys for a month and learned about your family’s magic – with Gilen having metal conjuring and your dad with his clairvoyant sorcery – so what is yours? You almost never show it around me besides that snippet from yesterday.” Lutz gave Oliver side eyed look, “…elemental sorcery…” The other man raised an eyebrow, “Why do you sound like it’s a bad thing?”  Lutz sighed, “It’s not a bad thing, but it’s proven to be a hassle for me, even years later, it can mess me up.” Oliver began to peel an orange, “How so?”

“When I use my magic, I can shape things around me; I can move rocks around like their made of paper, use water as a blade to cut things, shape wood into whatever I want…things like that. But sometimes, it can be unpredictable when I am not fully focused on what I’m doing.” The blond man explained, popping an orange slice into his mouth. “Like what?” Oliver asked, watching Lutz rub the back of his head, “I tend to let things get out of hand when using my magic. Just little mishaps here and there – I think the last time it happened, I was using water as a blade to cut down a tree because I couldn’t find the ax; Gilen came and scared the crap out of me and I lost focus, causing the water to freeze against the half-chopped tree. It was weird, and dad said I tend to have a copious amount of magic that isn’t used fully – because of that, I’m usually the one to make those charms we sell in town to release some of that extra magic.”

Oliver blinked and let the information process in his mind, “Doesn’t sound too bad to me.” A scoff came from the larger man, “That just shows how naïve you are.” The prince rolled his eyes and finished the orange, biting into his third fruit – a peach that he believed wasn’t as sweet as the ones on his tree. As the two men ate, something ruffled through the trees and a large dark green wyvern came up beside them. It was larger than the fire scourge but not as big as a house like Lutz said – still, it was a creature that made the pink haired man stop eating and stare. The wyvern leaned down and lapped at the water, unaware of the two humans or the animals around them. Oliver was still staring in shock and Lutz just elbowed him, whispering, “Oliver, don’t stare! They find it rude!”

“S-Sorry!” He quickly looked away, blushing slightly from embarrassment. He then heard a deep rubble that resembled a chuckle, then a female voice in his mind. _Don’t be afraid, little mage. I don’t bite._ Oliver was now puzzled, “What…?” He looked up to see the wyvern turn its head to meet eye to eye with him, giving him a smile. “Umm…did you just talk?” _In a way, yes. You’re hearing my voice telepathically._ The wyvern leaned down her head to sniff at the pink haired man, _you’re new here…_ she took another sniff, _a young one, scared, nervous and a little bit worried. Strange, you are conflicted with a lot of emotions; fear is your biggest one, but I don’t believe I am the one causing it._ The prince blinked and raised an eyebrow, “How did you know that _?” Wyverns can do many things, young one. I happen to be one who can sense emotions and their reasons for them can sense emotions._ “It’s a little too personal for my liking. Just don’t completely believe what it tells you – sometimes they lie to gain something from you.” Lutz mumbled, looking uncomfortable. With that, the wyvern turned to squint at the violet eyed man, don’t look so awkward Lutz Beilschmidt. I still remember the years of anger and hatred you’ve carried on your shoulders. She took a good whiff of him, making Lutz lean away from the creature, _you still carry your anger and it looks like it’s grown far worse than before. But now you have jealousy,_ the wyvern glanced at Oliver, _towards this one._   Lutz stood up, clearly having enough of the uninvited guest, “I don’t need some over grown lizard telling me how I feel! Now back off!”

Oliver was puzzled at the other man’s reaction, standing up now, “Lutz, you don’t have to be rude.”  A scoff came from an irritated Lutz, as well as a string of swears as he decided to get up and walk until the wyvern left. But it only stood her ground, _As I’ve told you numerous of times, Lutz Beilschmidt. Hiding it will only make it worse and each time we’ve crossed paths, your anger has grown. Stop hiding and face it like a man._ The prince was confused as to why the wyvern was intentionally pushing the other man, keeping his distance. Which was a good idea because he watched as Lutz stopped, clenched his fists and snarled under his breath. He then turned to face them again, those violet eyes flickering with annoyance and anger.

“You know what? You’re fucking right! I am pissed off! I have every god damn reason to be angry for all these years! Are you fucking happy now?” Lutz’s voice was loud, making some birds take off running nearby as he finally decided to explode, point up at the wyvern. “I had a good life you know! I was happy with my family living together in that town, then that king screwed it up by taking my mother away! Since that day every single fucking time I heard about anything about the king or his family, I wished something bad happened to them! When I was in Sheston, I cringed when I heard how happy they were living while their god forsaken guards were outing mages like we were a disease! Do you know how many fucking times I prayed that Allister or one of his family members will face the same pain as many mage families have felt?” Oliver stood there, appalled at what the other man was saying about his family. This was much more information than he was given yesterday with much more anger. He looked back at the wyvern, then at Lutz – whose hands started to give dark purple glow that matched his eyes. Within seconds, he saw a huge rock lift and be tossed at the wyvern, making it step back. “Don’t you dare stand there giving me a lecture on how I feel when I know exactly how I feel! I thought I was fine and when I saw this brat being chased in the forest, you want to know what I thought? I was thinking I had my chance! I could have killed that bug-eyed brat or let him be ripped apart by that creature! But no, dad always had to step in because it wasn’t fair and didn’t solve anything, but I didn’t care! I just wanted that king and his family to feel the pain I felt losing my mother!”

Oliver’s eyes widened more, steadying himself as the ground rumble under their feet as more rocks began flying around from Lutz’ anger. He ducked when one came towards him, watching it splash into the water. Now, the wyvern was growling at him, _Lutz, control yourself! You’re going to end up hurting someone!_ A rock came and popped the wyvern’s head making it snarl as the prince panic, _Fuck, fuck, fuck! What am I going to do?_ He stood his ground and yelled back at the other man, “Lutz, please! You have to relax!” It was all he could say as he felt the larger man's magic swirl around himself, giving a violet shadow behind him.

That was a bad idea – Lutz now focused his anger from the wyvern to him. “Don’t you tell me to relax! You’re always trying to give this innocent display, but you know what? You may have my father and brother fooled but not me!”  The violet eyed man came towards Oliver and he suddenly felt scared – fearing Lutz more than the fire scourge from yesterday. “That stupid wyvern is right about the jealous because I am! All because you’re so fucking perfect around everyone and everything! Learning everything with magic within a couple of weeks which took me years to understand; getting my dad to like you without any effort! It makes me jealous because even when I do something good, I still get his disapprovals or told how I need to improve! Oh, but when special little Ollie does it, he gets nothing but praise!” Lutz got closer and as Oliver stepped back, he flinched when he realized he was in the cold water. “I-I’m not trying to change anything with your family, Lutz. I-I’m not…! Please, can we just talk about it without rocks flying around?”

“No! I’ve had enough! I’m tired of holding and pretending everything is fine when it’s not!” Lutz shouted at the top of his lungs at the other man, slamming the rocks down around them. The prince had to do the same ‘flight or fight’ with Lutz now, one of the last people he would have to do around. He had to run, but his feet wouldn’t move; even when the water began to move around him, soaking the bottom of his pants. “I’ve had enough! Enough of hiding back my hatred for that stupid town, for that stupid kind and you!” That last shout made have enough, feeling his own magic swirl around his arms. It was strong, but it felt like fire, making the young man feel awful. “Stop being a brat and fight back! You’ve always been a sheltered little pup but now it’s time to run with the big wolves now, Oliver Kirkland!”  He took one more step as he spoke, but it was his last when Oliver screamed out, “SHUT UP!” and let his full energy explode. It made the larger man fly back into a tree and smack face first into the ground. Gasping at what he just did, the prince teared up and ran, disappearing into the forest – leaving a still Lutz and the watching wyvern. She walked over to Lutz, rolling the man onto his back with her wing, _how do you feel?_ Lutz, who was miraculously still awake, just laid there, “…numb…stupid...guilty…your words were uncalled for. Now I fucked up…”

 _Perhaps. But it needed to be said and I saw that you were at your limit – it was inevitable._ The wyvern replied, stepping back away from the human. “Okay…but was your goal to make me so angry that I lashed out like that?” The man replied, feeling the pain his body now _; I said what was on my mind and I feel a weight off my shoulders, but was it worth it?_ He had to find Oliver before some predator turns him into a royal lunch. But he used a lot of energy and magic to the point where the man’s body was temporarily paralyzed. The wyvern stretched out her wings, _good bye, Lutz Beilschmidt, I hope we don’t cross paths_. With that she stretched out her wings and flew away with Lutz rolling his eyes, “Gods, I hope so…stupid lizard…”  Now alone, laying on the ground, surrounded by the mess that was made, the blond man was left to his thoughts. Khonr eventually showed up, whining from distress of his master as it nudged the human’s face, “I’m not dead, you big baby. Calm down…” With the wolf laying beside him, Lutz waited until he regained the energy back to got and find Oliver.

After that explosion, the prince’s eyes were wide from shock and fear as he saw what he did. Panting heavily, he saw the mess of water everywhere; rocks thrown everywhere, and a groaning Lutz twitching on the ground. Completely terrified of what the angry blond man was going to do next, Oliver took off running back into the forest, forcing himself to not look back. Hearing those words from the other man were ringing in the pink haired man’s mind – but the biggest ones were of Lutz saying he was tired of Oliver. That hurt deeply, making him think that their newly form friendship yesterday was for nothing. The prince kept running, unsure of which direction he was going; all he wanted to do, was get as far as possible.  He kept going until he tripped over some rocks and landed face first into dew covered grass. Ignoring the pain, Oliver finally broke down crying, “I knew he was angry but why did he say the rest? He was about to attack me! Lutz was about to attack me!” Saying that out loud sounded even more crazier than just thinking about, making the man sick to his stomach. 

Puking up the fruit he ate earlier, Oliver slowly got back up, looking at his now ripped pants and scrapped up arm. He didn’t care because the pain in his heart was worse – it felt like he got stabbed in the chest. Whether it was due to his magic reacting to it or now, it was awful making the young man wonder how he was able live under the same roof with Lutz now. The only option he saw was thanking Alberich and leave, figuring out what to do when he reached back to Shesten. Oliver looked at his surroundings, going over to laying in a small meadow where the sun was peeking through. He closed his eyes and heavily sighed, thinking about the words that Lutz said to him; they were repeating in his mind repeatedly. “He...truly hates me… those words were Lutz’s honest words…I don’t even know what was worse. The fact that he wanted to kill me as a kid or the fact he almost had his chance just now.” The young man remained quiet, trying to relax and forget what happened – he didn’t care if he was safe or not right now, Oliver needed a nap in the sunny grass. Glancing at his slightly glowing blue tattooed arms for a moment, he closed his eyes once more and eventually fell asleep.

* * *

 

After an hour, Lutz started wiggling his toes and fingers, then slowly his legs. Soon, the man’s whole body was moving again as he got back to his feet wincing from cracking his back. Khonr wagged its tail, happy to see his human moving and received a pat on the head. “I’m good now, Khonr. But we can’t relax now; we must go find Oliver before anything dangerous does.” He looked around and grabbed their bags, stuffing some fruit into his then showed the wolf Oliver’s bag. “Think you can sniff him out?” The canine sniffed all round the bag, sniffed the ground and perked up, catching the scent of the pink human. “Good. Let’s go find him.” Taking a glance at the mess that was made, Lutz waved a hand and moved most of the rocks back where they were before. The trees he couldn’t fix the man full cut off the snapped one – once that was done, he headed out, following Khonr down another path of the forest. The whole time, he was thinking about how he was going to resolve this, sighing as he run a hand through his hair, “Gods, I hope didn’t completely ruin things…”

Something came to overshadow the sleeping human, leaning down to sniff at his oddly colored hair. Nothing happened so it nudged at Oliver’s face, making him softly grumble – the creature continued until words finally came, “Stoop…” The prince only got more nudged on his arm with a big paw and he finally opened his eyes, “Will you leave me alone?” Thinking it was one of those curious winged rabbits, those blues eyes of his were staring at bright yellow-green ones that went to something very larger. Yelping, he scurried away to scoot back to see what had appeared – it was cat, or lion? The animal had all the same markings, facial features and mannerisms of a wild cat, but its ears, legs and tail were ridiculously long. It straightened up to give a slanted eye look as if it was studying the human, as Oliver scooted back more. “S-Stay back…I-I’m not tasty and I promise I would only upset your stomach!” The feline tilted its head then came over to him, showing any fear of this human. Instead of biting or attacking, the cat sat down – which still showed it was quite large sitting – then headed butted the prince with a very loud purr. It was almost kitten like with its affection for the confused human, but oddly enough it was comforting to him. “I guess you’re not too bad…thank you…” Oliver replied, getting a nuzzle from the large feline as it continued its purrs and nuzzles. Still feeling sick and tired, the prince leaned against the tree with his unexpected visitor, feeling the vibrations of the purring against his body.

The two of them stayed liked that for half an hour with the feline not showing any sign that it was going to harm Oliver or leave. At some point, it quickly perked up it’s long ears to listen and the prince quickly stood up when he heard rustling in the bushes. His legs still felt like jelly, but he kept himself up, watching in slight surprise when Khonr’s sleek black form appear – it snarled at the feline, ready to attack as it thought it was attacking Oliver. But the feline – which was taller than the pink man by a foot – turned to defend the prince and hissed at the wolf. Khonr was snarling but backed down when Lutz appeared, “Wow, wow, wow! What is it, Khonr?” The larger man saw the hissing feline at them both now and Oliver standing behind it. “Oliver! Get away from that thing!” The prince was still afraid of the other man, so instead of listening to him, he turned and started running off with the feline following. “Come on, Oliver! Please? I don’t want to start a chase! Just…give me chance to try and explain myself, please….” The prince stopped walking, chewing on his bottom lip and feeling his eyes sting again. I shouldn’t let him speak. I should just keep going and leave him for good…but what kind of person would that make me if I wasn’t fair? He thought this over then moved to sit back in his napping spot, waiting for the other. Lutz softly sighed as he carefully moved to sit on a large boulder, keeping his distance from the prince but close enough so they can speak.

“Look…what I said back there…I didn’t want you to hear that. I didn’t want anyone to hear it and yet that wyvern kept pushing me.” The violet eyed man replied, watching Oliver hug his knees, “It doesn’t matter if you wanted to say or not…you had those thoughts….you…wanted me dead even though I’ve never done one thing to earn those threats…” Lutz sighed, feeling a tightness in his chest, “I know and it was stupid…I just…I bottled up my anger. Each time I wanted to lash out, I had to push it deeper and deeper into that bottle, so my family wouldn’t be affected by it. But when I saw you at our door, I wanted to lash you…it’s why I was rude and ignoring you. I knew that I was a ticking time bomb, so I did my best to push you, so I had a clear head. But the longer you stayed, the more you were on my mind and I wanted to do something. Many things, both good and bad…but mostly, I wanted to hurt you.” He could see Oliver flinch, “I’ll admit, I didn’t lie when I snapped at you…but that’s also not how I wanted to approach it.”

Oliver’s voice cracked as he spoke now, you wanted to kill me for something my dad did when we were kids, Lutz. What was a 10-year-old supposed to do? I understand your dislike for the laws and such placed by my dad; believe me, I don’t like them either and wished I could do change them because your family. You guys made me feel accepted…made me feel like I was loved for being a mage instead of feared…” He sniffled, and Lutz can tell the smaller man was crying now, “Oliver…” Now, the violet eyed man pulled out a hand kerchief from his bag and walked over to the other, ignoring the growl from the large feline to kneel in front of Oliver. “I realize now that I shouldn’t blame you for another person’s actions. Hell, I admit now that I have terrible people skills and still working on them.” Lutz handed the cloth to the prince, who hesitated before grabbing it, “You don’t have to forgive me for my actions at the lake and I don’t care if you never do. But…I do ask to give me a chance again because I really enjoyed talking about life outside of magic with you. It made me feel carefree and you’re actually a pretty easy person to talk to…”  The prince sniffled, rubbing his red puffy eyes, “I can try…but I don’t want to feel like I’m just a burden to you. What you said about with Gilen and your dad, it made me sound like one big manipulator who’s trying to destroy your family. I don’t want to repeat the other things you’ve said but they hurt…”

He started to cry again as Lutz’ words repeated in his mind, “I’m sorry for being a burden…I’m sorry for ever showing up at your door! I'm sorry I took away your family's attention away from you! I’m sorry, Lutz…” Oliver scooted back away from the other man again, crying and hiding his face from the blond man. That tightness grew in Lutz’ chest as he watched the other break down in front of him. The Beilschmidt man gave his softest tone of voice now to calm the prince, “Oliver…I’m a mess when it comes to my emotions and actions. It’s probably from isolating myself a lot, but the last thing I want now is to bring you any more pain. I wanted to be your friend…but I also want to make up for my stupid actions…” The large man gently picked up the other man effortlessly, putting him on his back and making Oliver shocked, “Wh-What are you doing…?” He looked bewildered, but Lutz remained as gently and quiet as he can be, “I’m going to take you to a stream…I noticed the dried blood and scrapped limbs and we need to clean it, so they don’t infect…” The prince looked down and wanted to protest, but he was tired and being carried like he was as a kid made him feel safe in the other man’s muscular arms. So, he laid his head against Lutz’ shoulder and clung to him, sniffling more near his ear.

Khonr stood up ready to leave but glanced at the large feline that was silently keeping watch of them as if it was going to attack. Lutz glanced at the cat, “How did you manage to get a cat-hound to like you?”  Oliver just shrugged a bit, “Don’t know…it came and laid with me…what’s a cat hound?” The blond man sighed, figuring the other didn’t pay attention or was too tired to even notice what he said, “I’ll explain later…” He started walking once more with Khonr close behind and the now called ‘cat-hound’ following from a distance. Finding a creek not too far from where they were, Lutz looked around then at the black wolf, “Khonr, scout.”

On command, it went and sniffed around the are to ensure they were safe. Lutz then glanced back at the man on his back, hearing soft snores in his ear. “That was quick…at least he wasn’t even that heavy to carry.” Carefully moving so he wouldn’t wake up Oliver, Lutz laid him near the water, then dug through their bags. He found some bandages in the prince’s bag and used an extra shirt as a wash cloth to clean up the scraps on the other man. He was careful with the skinny arms and legs as if one wrong move will break Oliver – wondering if the other man needed to eat more. When Lutz finished, the cat-hound came over to lick the pink hair and sat by him as if it was protecting the prince.

Lutz felt nothing but guilt now for what happened this morning and wished he could go back into time to change it. But it happened and now he had to live with the results; by now, he accepted if Oliver didn’t want to be around him when they returned or never talk to him again. He just hoped that, by some grace of Vaena, Oliver won’t hate him and will forgive him.  While the prince slept, Lutz went and pulled off shirt then his shoes, deciding to sit in the water to let it ease the tension in his muscle.  Dunking his head into the water, he used his magic to make the water flow faster to cover his large body. Eventually the prince woke up with an awful head and puffy eyes, slowly sitting up to see the animals sitting near the water and the blond hair behind some rocks. “Lutz?” Perking up, the violet eyed man stood up and walked over to him – giving the other man a clear view of his muscular upper body. Oliver blushed and looked down at the ground, “Umm…thank you for carrying me…” Lutz waved a dismissive hand, grabbing his dry shirt and slipping it back on then sitting in the sunny part of the area. “It’s fine. You barely weigh that much and it’s the least I can do.” He watched as the feline by the prince nuzzled the pink human beside it, making the prince smile a bit. “So…a cat-hound, huh? I don’t see them often, but I didn’t think they would approach humans.”  Lutz replied, letting Khonr come and lay its head on his lap, giving the wolf ear scratches. “It just appeared and curled up with me, purring. But it’s huge to be any normal wild cat…”

“No… cat-hounds are taller than most of them. What they lack in strength, they make up in speed – I think the only thing that can barely keep up is a good horse. They get their name ‘cat-hound’ because they act like hunting dogs when they’re out and about. I wish I could tell you more but they’re still uncommon and I’m shocked that one is attached to you.” Oliver listened to Lutz’s words, looking at the feline then moving closer to the water. He pulled off his shoes and sock, rolled up his damp pants and put his feet in the water. Sighing softly, he thought about what to say, “So what happens now?”

Lutz rubbed the back of his neck, “I don’t know…I was honest when I said I want still be friends but if you rather not talk and wait till tomorrow, I can respect that.”

Oliver looked at the flowing water, wiggling his toes against the rocks, “I can do that. But it’s in the middle of the day and I can’t go that long without talking to anyone. I’m a social person and kind of thrive being around people – never one for hiding away from everyone.” He looked at Lutz, “Come sit with me and talk.” The blond man’s heart was nearly jumping at the opportunity to regain that happiness they had yesterday afternoon, but he still hesitated still. “You sure you still want to talk to me after what happened?” The prince pondered at that for a moment, looking up at the sky then at the other man, “I’m still nervous about what you might due if I tick a nerve, but I’m the last person to hold a grudge.” Lutz looked at Khonr, grabbing some apples from his bag, and sat next to him. “You don’t…hate me?” he asked, handing the other man an apple.

“No. Disappointed, but not hate.”

“Now, I’m a little lost. Most people will be hating me for what I did.” Those violet eyes were puzzled as they looked at the pink spot. “I can hate you, but what would I gain from it? Most of the things you said were understandable and I probably would have felt the same if I was in put in your shoes. If I did have any hatred for a person, I would get bored because I don’t gain anything from it but pain.” Lutz blinked and let the words wonder through his mind, “Huh! I never saw it that way…but you gotta at least dislike me more.”

Oliver chuckled through the bite of food in his mouth, which felt good because it lightened the tension the two of them had, “I don’t dislike you either, Lutz. I’m just…letting everything processing in my head and figuring it all out.” A smile came to the violet eyed man’s face, _Oliver you’re too sweet…_ , “Well, there’s got to be someone you really dislike then if not me.” The prince thought this over as he ate more of the apple, “There is. Two people actually back in Shesten that kind of started the whole thing with me running away.”

“Who?”

“They’re a brother and sister from one of the noble families named Ivan and Natalya Braginksy. That night of the party, I was enjoying myself and Natalya wanted a dance; as common courtesy I took her to the dance floor and dance. But as we moved, she started talking about the rumors about me and said that if I dated her, those rumors will go away - I refused and she caused a scene then her brother cam and tried to punch me in the face because apparently I pushed my sister." Oliver replied, hearing Lutz click his teeth, "What an ass." The prince nodded and continued, "After the whole mess that night, the next day she stated that same rumor and made it even worse in front of my parents. I was glad she got sent away but it didn't stop my parents fro trying to send me yo my aunt's house and she lives hundreds of miles away in the middle of no where." 

Lutz rested his chin on a propped hand, "Wow. She sounds like the epitome of a spoiled brat to me. What were the rumors she was trying to push?" This made the smaller man lower his head a bit and pouted, "The rumors that I liked to sneak different men into the cancel and have sex with them." He held his hands out,"Yes, I like men over women but to them that's blasphemous for a royal to be - you're suppose to get married and make a bunch of babies to carried the family name." He turned to look at Lutz, looking irritated; Lutz glanced back looking very puzzled, "I've never had a man in my bad and I don't sneak them in. Hell, I've never even gotten close to a man for a kiss to even start something like that! That's what I dislike! Rumors and people who spread them like Natalya does!" The prince huffed and folded his arms, letting his friend ponder at this,"Heh, welcome to my world. Shesten townsfolk sure love themselves a good rumor and would spread it like wild fire."

"Glad you understand my predicament then."

"But, what surprises me the most is the kissing part. Have you never had a kiss before?" The blond man asked, his smile growing on his face when he saw Oliver blush, "I've had kisses before. Just not...ones on the lips or anything else in the intimate variety." Lutz laughed at that - the laughing was so abrupt it threw his familiar off but it felt good to laugh right now. "I-It's not funny, Lutz! I bet you've never had a kiss of the sort either!"

The Beilschmidt man gave him a bright smile, "Actually I have. I've had a couple of relationships actually and been told I am great kisser! I just thought it was funny because I thought a prince of all people would have little times where they get someone to kiss!" Oliver shook his head, "You're referring to my brother then, not me." Now the prince felt embarrassed, looking away to avoid the smile that Lutz was giving him - _That was a bad idea to say. Now the man is never going to stop teasing me about it._ "Well, there's only one thing to do." 

Oliver raised an eyebrow, "And that is...?" Unexpectedly, the larger man leaned, gently lifted the prince's chin and gave him a soft kiss on the royal lips, "There. Now you've gotten your first kiss on the lips - provided by yours truly!" The smaller man's face was a bright red and he quickly pushed Lutz away, swatting at him to scoot away, "That's not fair, Lutz! I didn't ask for the kiss!" But his lips tingled from the warmth of the other man's lips and he didn't hate, "Still a jerk..."

Lutz, who was feeling quite proud of himself and feeling much better now, chuckled more, "Sorry, your highness! I couldn't help myself!" The prince groaned, avoiding eye contact of the other - Lutz stood up and ruffled that pink hair, making the prince blush more. "I'll give you some time alone. I'm sure you're getting hungry and fish isn't going to fully satisfy your stomach. Khonr, come on." Oliver watched him as the man slipped on his boots and grabbed his knife. "Don't leave the spot, kiddo!" With that, the pink haired man watched him go then looked at the cat-hound, "Looks like his teasing attitude hasn't changed with me." The cat meowed at him and rubbed against his whole back before going over to drink as the human sighed, touching his lips again. "That man is confusing....he teases me, yells at me, threw all his anger towards me, attacked me, and after all that had the nerve to steal my first kiss?!" But the kiss was very sweet, making Oliver blush as he began to wondering what he can do to see more of the young Beilschmidt's sweet side.

Meanwhile, as he was hunting, Lutz was happy that the tension was dying away between the two of them, but now he wondered about his action. He was already working on an apology when he came back for the kiss, but he didn't regret it. It was awhile he kissed someone and seeing Oliver's face turn pink as his hair was quite cute. He was gone for an hour, thinking nothing but good things of the prince while catching a few regular rabbits with Khonr's help. They returned to their camp site for the afternoon to find the cat-hound sunbathing but no sight of Oliver, "Dammit! I told him not to leave!"

"I'm still here! I had to do some business!" A voice called out with the pink man coming back and fixing his belt, then looking at the 2 dead rabbits in Lutz's hands. "Those aren't my winged friends are there?" Lutz held back he urge to roll his eyes, "No. I knew you wouldn't eat if I got caught one of them. These are just normal rabbits." The man set his catch down then held his hands, letting his magic flow to his hands, "Oliver, watch this!" Oliver stood there as Lutz moved a bucket's worth of water from the creek and used it to hit a nearby tree - thinking it was going to splash, he gasped in awe then water caused a cut in the tree. He regularized that this was the same technique that Lutz explained this morning; using water as an ax to break down a tree. Once he had his pieces, Lutz moved the logs and rocks to create another place to have a fire, receiving a clap from Oliver, "That was neat, Lutz! I was wondering how you managed to cut down a tree with water!" 

Lutz looked back at him, "I use the forest elements and when you're bored, you learn little things like that." He was generally proud of his magic and with his audience, the blond man felt even more happy to show off his skills. Once that was done, Lutz went to prepare the rabbits to cook, ending with them skinned and cooking on sticks by the fire that Oliver made - something he's never made and was happy with. Now, in the late afternoon, the two of them were back to what they had the day before - talking as friend, not enemies, over a good meal. This time, to forget about what happened this morning, each man was telling some silly story they either heard or experienced in life.  So far, the best one was of Lutz messing up on magic lesson that left Gilen's hair blue for a week, making Oliver laugh to the point of grabbing his stomach.

The two men needed and wanted this; it was welcoming, happy and neither of them were going to admit that Alberich was right about them. By night time, the two of them were sitting beside each other instead of across from each other, keeping warm by the fire. "hey Lutz?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you...for giving me a chance...even though we had that fight today, I don't think I had one thought about us talking to each other by the end of the day." Oliver replied, seeing Lutz stretching, "No, thank you for not completely pushing me away. I know I have a lot of faults, but with talks like this, I think I can get better; I didn't know talking about how I feel would ease my tensions. Honestly, I thought if I talked it was just going to make the tensions worse." Oliver smiled, patted the man's arm, "Agreed! It took a good snapping at me but I'm glad you're feeling more at ease now."

Lutz gave a half smile, "Thank, Oliver." He watched as the prince yawned an lean against the large man for warmth, "Call me, Ollie...all my friends do..." Ollie...the name repeated in the Beilschmidt's mind, making him happy as relaxed, "Okay,Ollie..." he replied, keeping quiet for the remainder of the time to reflect and watch the fire until sleep eventually hit the both of them for the night.


	6. Conversations

The next morning, Lutz was the first to wake up, but couldn’t move – he had the animals curled up around them and Oliver softly snoring against him. He heavily sighed, petting Khonr’s head then gently nudged the prince, “Hey, Ollie, wake up, kiddo.” He watched as the smaller man slowly started to wake and join the rest of the waking group. When he fully came to, the prince looked around and yawned, “I had a good dream…why did you wake me?” Lutz chuckled and ruffled the pink hair, noticing it wasn’t as soft as usual, but he figured it’s because the two of them needed to wash. “What was so great about it?” He asked, slowly getting up to stretching – wincing when he heard his back pop – as his familiar stood up.  Oliver stood up and yawned again, “I dreamed of someone. I didn’t know who it was, but it felt very motherly, but I didn’t see my mother.” The pink haired man smiled, “Whatever it was, I felt happy and relaxed…it probably sounds like I’m crazy hehe, sorry…” Lutz looked at the other and smiled; he found the other man quite cute with his charm. “No. I actually have dreams like that when there’s times I need a motherly love in my life. Usually, it makes me happy at times and sometimes sad, depending on the dream.” He waved a hand and began to break down what was left of their campfire, placing the rocks off to the side. Within few minutes, the area was clean without any sign there was a fire or that the men were camping there.

Oliver went over to the water to wash his face and refill his bottle, then looked at Lutz, “What’s the plan for today?”

“It’s passed sunrise on the third day. Dad’s spell should be gone now, and we can get back home; which s good because I need a bath.” The violet man replied, looking down at the yawning wolf; he then glanced at the cat-hound that was sitting near Oliver again. “Are you taking that cat with you?”

The prince looked at the cat that meowed at him, “It’s not mine, but it looks like it’s not leaving my side. Let’s get going and see what she does.” Lutz raised an eyebrow, “So now it’s a she, huh?” Oliver looked at the cat-hound, “I don’t know…I just thought it’s a girl because of how protective she is.” Lutz chuckled, “Well, you’re probably right because I heard the males tend to fight other males, no matter what species it is.” Another meow came from the feline as the group began to head back into the forest, letting Khonr lead the way towards the opening. Lutz trusted the wolf and they’ve done this so many times, that the canine knew the way back. As they walked, the two men were talking again – this time, about other relationships they have or had. “You have any other acquaintances, Lutz?”

Lutz hummed, “Not, really. Or at least, not ones who are close to me, that is. When our family do our yearly visit to Grand Whisper Lair where I talk to a few people who have the same interests in me.” Oliver raised an eyebrow, “What is Grand Whisper Lair?” The taller man held a hand out as he tried to find his words, “You remember the whole part of Shesten history where all the mages were kicked out for using any bit of magic?”

“Yes.”

“Well, to find a new home, many of them had to find a new place to call home. They went towards the Grand Whisper Mountain and made a sanctuary for mages.  They created this place with the multiple types of magic and create a haven for people. Before, it was open to everyone who wanted to see their families or to trade, but now, it’s hidden, and you must either be able use magic to step through the barrier or accompany someone who does. Of course, there’s guardians who inspect those who wish to trade and sell their goods with people. Anyways, I have some people talk there and a few family members who feel more comfortable being there then near us.” Lutz explained, receiving quite a curious look from the prince beside him, “That sound really cool! I always wondered what happened to the mages when they had to leave the town. Can I go there?” The Beilschmidt man smiled, “Definitely. I don’t think my dad would mind having an extra party member in our traveling group. It’s just the matter of whether you can handle a 4-day trip to walk or not.”

Oliver looked offended, ‘Excuse me! If I can handle 2 days of walking around here, I’m sure I can do a trip with extra days!” He elbowed the other man, who laughed at him and stepped back to avoid any more nudged from the pink one. “My turn to ask a question and it’s the same one. Do you have any friends?”

The prince nodded, “I do. I made friends with some noblemen and with all the staff in the palace, especially with Gabby and her dad! She’s not a mage but her dad was and so is her daughter – she’s always been like a big sister to, always keeping my secret of liking magic from others and she told me how to find you guys. She’s a sweet lady and I would love for you to meet her! She’s a little younger than your dad but has the fire like one of younglings” Oliver giggled, seeing that smile grow on Lutz’s face, Gabby sounds like a delight. But how come no friendships with a lot of nobles?” Shrugging and climbing over a broken tree, the pink man hummed, “Not really sure on that. I guess it’s because I was never interested in talks of the latest fashion or trades. I found I am boring with my dad and brother, so I found it boring when other people spoke of it.” He watched Lutz hop over the broken tree, looking away and blushing, “Seems like I’ve never really fit in each time I bring up my palace life.”

“Looks like it. But I don’t mind listening to it all.” Lutz replied, holding out a hand to help the prince – who blushed and took his hand, hopping over the tree, “Thank you for the help and for listening to me, Lutz.” The taller man ruffled his hair, “No problem, Ollie.” He walked away, and Oliver was glad because his cheeks were red with blush. Oliver smiled as he glanced at the cat-hound, then trailed behind the other man as they continued their walked. It took shorter time getting to the opening of Misty Loch than it did to get halfway through it, which puzzled the prince. Lutz just told him it was because it was always easier getting back then getting into the forest – which confused Oliver even more. They reached the open field and watched as Khonr ran to a spot and wiggled in the tall grass like a puppy. “Ahh, made it! And look! The barrier is gone!” Lutz replied, pointing to the continuing path that the two of them came through two days. He began to walk but stopped when he heard the other man’s voice speak up, “Hey, Lutz?”

“What’s up?” Oliver looked off to the side and fiddled with the bottom of his shirt, “Can…we keep what happened yesterday to ourselves? I know your dad was expecting us to get along and I don’t want to find out what he would do if he found out you tried to harm me or the fact that I harmed you. So, for now can we keep it hushed for now?”  Lutz thought about it, he’s right. If dad found out what I did, he would be on my ass for weeks. He then gave a smile, “Aww, are you worried about me, your highness?” The prince blushed and pouted “Don’t it get to your head. I don’t want to see you getting after you.”

“I take that as a yes!” The Beilschmidt man laughed as he turned away, hearing protests from Oliver who followed behind him. The cat-hound, which decided to stick with them pass the forest, started playing with Khonr. The two animals chased each other around the field, with the wolf doing it’s best to keep up with the fast feline. The two men liked watching it as they headed towards home with them following close behind. Making it back to the cottage by lunch, Alberich was already outside to greet them – a small smile on his face when he finally saw them getting along. He met with them and the two men turned to greet him, “Good afternoon, you two. It seems like my little plan worked.”  Lutz and Oliver glanced at each with his son speaking next, “We still were on each other’s asses, but I found out the prince isn’t that bad.” The smaller man nudged him, “You’re not that bad yourself.” Alberich hummed and noticed the cat-hound that was sitting beside the prince. “Looks like you also made a new friend, Oliver. Who is this?”

Oliver looked at the feline, “I don’t know. She found me and wouldn’t leave my side and decided that Khonr wasn’t bad.” The older man studied the animal, “If you want her as a familiar, you have to follow a few steps to make is so.” Oliver looked up at Alberich, “How do I do that?” Lutz spoke this time, “Ah, I forgot to tell you about the familiars and how I got Khonr. Since you already established a relationship with the cat, the next step is giving your familiar a name while touching them.” The prince blinked then faced the cat hound, thinking of a name as she nuzzled into his hand. As he thought, he felt that same familiar warmth he had in his dream and a name came to mind. “The only name that comes to mind is Savyla.” Upon saying the name, he watched as his arms glowed with his markings, then saw soft blue swirls move to cover the large feline. Her eyes changed from the bright yellow eyes to bright blue that matched Oliver’s. When he pulled his hand away, the prince felt that same warmth still as the feline rubbed her head against his face. “You’re welcome, Savyla.”

Alberich patted his shoulder, “Now that she is established as your familiar, you two are connected. She’ll do what you ask and will protect you even more. Any reason for the name?” The smaller man stood back up and rubbed the back of his head, “No…it…just feel familiar to me, I guess.” The older Beilschmidt patted shoulder, “Well done, Oliver. You guys learned a lot this weekend, I’m sure.” _That’s an understatement_ , Lutz thought, “But Lutz, you shouldn’t forget such a thing as a familiar when you have one. You could have easily messed Oliver up with the information you gave.” The violet eyed man opened his mouth to protest, but closed it, only keeping the slight glare. “Right…excuse me, father. I need a bath now…” He quietly excused himself, heading into the house to grab something, then headed down to the lake with Khonr patting behind. Oliver frowned and thought about what the man said yesterday to him, “Lutz…” Alberich turned to head back in, “Come on, Oliver. I think he had too much excitement this weekend and he’ll perk up after a good meal.” Gilen was already making a pot of rabbit stew for the four of them and even after Lutz cleaned up and ate 2 large bowls of food, he still wasn’t talkative.

After giving a summary of how they managed to connect, Oliver watched Lutz excuse himself and head out to the workshop. He didn’t say anything to the violet eyed man and held his own tongue when Alberich talked about how stubborn his son was.  That evening, the prince had his own soap and headed down to the lake, hearing Lutz work in his workshop. “He was so good up until then…” Savyla looked at the workshop then up at her human, “Yea, I know, girl. Let’s leave him alone for now and go get cleaned up.” He headed down the steps of the stairs to the water, spending the next two hours cleaning two days stink off his skin and hair.

Once he was done and back inside, Oliver figured Lutz would be okay by tomorrow.  Unfortunately, he was far from the truth – the next day, while doing daily chores, Lutz didn’t come out of the workshop with Gilen giving him his meals. Each time the snowy haired man was asked about his brother, he just shrugged and said, ‘he doesn’t want to be bothered’. In the afternoon, Alberich tried to get his son out, but to no avail, replying how he didn’t understand why Lutz was being this way. The next day was the same and Oliver tried to help. He walked over to the door of the workshop with a plate of food, seeing Khonr laying by the door. “Hi Khonr. Is he still in there?” The wolf’s ear flicked but it remained unamused as the pink human knocked on the door.

“Lutz? I have food for you. You’ve been locked up in there for some time now and I’m sure you are hungry right now.” Oliver replied, relieved he heard an answer, “Thanks, but I’m not hungry right now, Ollie. Just leave it on the table, I’ll get it later.” It wasn’t the answer he wanted but it was still something, “Are you sure? I’m sure some fresh air will do you some good, and it’s a beautiful day today.” No answer came. “Okay then…sorry to disturb you…” Lutz sighed as he heard the steps walking away, feeling bad but he wasn’t in the right state right now – emotionally wise. There was too much on the Beilschmidt man’s man and the only thing he can do to help it is to worth on his little designs. Using rocks, wood and twine, the man created little things with his magic – they made him happy, but he didn’t show them to his dad. Lutz always felt that it wasn’t helpful or useful to his dad, so the old bat didn’t care. But his son did, and he continued to work all through the day, only stopping to sneak into the house to grab something to eat then heading back into his workshop. That night, Lutz showed no sign of returning to the house and Oliver just looked outside the window from the make shift couch bed, worried even more.

Gilen came over to him, “Lutz does this often, Oliver. Give him another day and he’ll back to his old self again.”

“I suppose you right…does he always sleep in there too?” Oliver asked, frowning when the older brother nodded, “Yep. If you want, you can go sleep on his bed. It’s not being used and I’m sure you miss sleeping on a proper one.”  The offer sounded nice, but he shook his head, “No, no! It wouldn’t be right…” Gilen shrugged and turned away, “Suit yourself. Anyways, I’m heading to bed now, good night Oliver.”

“Goodnight, Gilen…” The prince sighed and laid down, getting comfortable; but he couldn’t fall asleep when the idea of a free bed roamed in his mind. Oliver tossed and turned 3 times before huffing, getting up then heading down to Lutz’s room. He reached for the door and grabbed the door know, “I’ve never been in his room…I don’t want to intrude…but if no one else is going to use the bed, I might as well.” The cat-hound meowed at him and nudged his back as if encouraging her human master. Oliver gave in and opened the door into a dimly lit room – it was simple with a large bed, dresser, a few pieces of clothes on the floor and pictures. “Heh…how quaint…” He shut the door and walked over to the bed, crawling onto it with Savyla making herself comfortable beside it. Oliver blew the candle out then laid down, instantly relaxing on the soft mattress. When he laid on the pillow, the faint scent of pine filled the prince’s nose, “It smells like him…” Lutz always had the scent of pine because it was his favorite soap and it made the small man relaxed. Oliver found himself nuzzling into the pillow, “Smells good…” It wasn’t long till the small man fell asleep in the bed with the cat-hound keeping close to him.

* * *

 Early the next morning, Lutz sneaked into the house to get a change of fresh clothes, not noticing the empty couch. He opened the door and abruptly stopped, seeing the pink hair first then the whole prince knocked out, cuddling his pillow. Who said he can come in here? The violet eyed man should be annoyed but seeing the sight, he couldn’t help but smile. Lutz went and pulled the blankets over the sleep prince and grabbed fresh clothes, being as quiet as possible. “Sleep well, Ollie…” He whispered, closing the door quietly and heading out once more with an apple in his mouth. Returning the workshop, the whole morning had Lutz thinking about Oliver and each time he thought of something cute that the prince does, it made him slightly blush.  His mind was mostly on Oliver today and he didn’t feel one ounce of annoyance from it. A few hours after sunrise, the prince woke and feeling better than before – plus his back felt 10 times better for sleeping on a proper mattress. “I might kick Lutz out of his own bed for the remainder of my time here…” He forced himself to get out of the warm bed and followed the smell of coffee back into the kitchen, avoiding being nosy in the room. Gilen was out for the day – borrowing the prince’s horse - and Alberich was fixing breakfast this morning’s breakfast, “Good morning, Oliver. Did you sleep well in Lutz’s bed?”

“Hehe…it felt good sleeping on it. I can see why Lutz likes to head to bed early now.” Oliver chuckled, smiling when he was handed a cup of coffee with sugar and a plate of food. Alberich sat with him and continued, “Not sure if that’s a good thing. I think it makes him lazy and it now he refuses to come out of that workshop.” The prince lowered his head a little as he started to eat, thinking about Lutz and his relationship with his father. “May I ask a slight controversial question?” The blond man sipped his coffee, “Hmm…you can, but don’t be upset with the answer.” Oliver nodded and finished the bite of food in his mouth, “Do you hate Lutz?” For a moment the father almost choked on his food at the question, clearing his throat as he looked at the smaller man with a bewildered look. “What an odd question to ask, Oliver. He’s my family; my flesh and blood. I love Lutz as much as I love Gilen – pray tell, why would you ask such a question?”

Oliver sipped his coffee, “Well, every time Lutz does something, whether it’s good or bad, you always tell him his that he needs to better. You call him stubborn and well…I may not be a parent, but I can see how you treat him. It…reminds me of myself with my dad about how he’s telling me I need to do better while praising my older brother.” Alberich was quiet, taking in this as he was thinking about his son before speaking, “I don’t hate my son, Oliver. He’s a very intelligent young man and carries himself to the highest standards. I couldn’t be happier…” The prince finished half his food while listening, remembering what Lutz has told him. “I know, but he doesn’t believe he’s good enough for you. This past weekend, I saw what he can do with his magic and it’s really interesting the way he uses the elements. But he feels that what ever he does, it’s not good enough for you because he’s not a fast learner like Gilen, or me. Lutz believes you’re not proud of him because he may not be as great with magic as Gilen…” There was silence between the two of them, making Oliver nervous, _I think I just crossed a line…_ But when he glanced at the older man, he looked conflicted, “I don’t understand. Of course, I’m proud of him, what kind of man wouldn’t be proud of a talent son like him? Lutz is excellent with elemental magic and when you see his little creations you can see the dedication he puts in it. I’m very proud of him, Oliver.”

Oliver gave a gentle smile, “I think he needs to hear it more, sir. You have a wonderful son it hurts himself when you compare him to Gilen or me; or when you keep telling him that he’s stubborn all the time it will get to the point where he believes you don’t really love him.” For a moment, the prince was speaking from his own feelings – he felt like the king never fully liked him for the exact reason Lutz is feeling. Alberich gave a heavy sigh and for once the old wolf lowered his head in shame, “I’m not being hard on him because I don’t love him. I just want my sons to be strong like myself and like my father…. I have been hard on Lutz unintentionally, and you’re right, Oliver. I should be easier on him when he is has surpassed all of my expectations.”

He glanced at the smaller man, “What should I do?” Oliver smiled and patted the man’s arm, “Talk to him; hear him out about how he feels; don’t just judge; and tell him you are very proud of him. I believe that’s what he wants to hear the most from you.” The blond man nodded and agreed on that, admitting it may be hard, but he will try to help his son out. After agreeing, the two of them finished they breakfast and Oliver watched as the older Beilschmidt pull is hair back into a pony tail then headed around to the back of the house.  Savyla stood beside him outside, looking up at her human as he glanced at her, “I hope I said the right things to get him to talk…the only wonder now is if Lutz will do the same.” _We just must wait and see now…_

Alberich walked over to the workshop and knocked on the door, hearing Lutz’s voice quick, “Please leave alone, Oliver. I told you I was coming out when I am ready.” His father just rolled his eyes and spoke up, “I’m not Oliver, Lutz. Come out here, we need to talk.” There was a moment of silence and then the door opened with a slightly nervous look on his face, “Father, I swear I was going to be out eventually. If you just give some ti- “A hand rose up and the older man turn, gesturing to follow, “Come talk a walk with me. I’m sure your work will still be here when you get back.” The young man hesitated, looking back at his work table, then sighed, shutting the door, “Alright…come on, Khonr.” The wolf stood up, giving a large yawn and stretch before patting along behind the two men as they headed down to the lake.

The two of them started to walk the perimeter of the lake as Alberich figured out how to start the conversation. “It’s not healthy to be locked away like that. You’re starting look pale in the face, Lutz.” His son looked off to the side, “I was fine, father. I still ate the meals you all saved for me and I did step out for fresh air.” The older man raised an eyebrow, “How come you’ve been hiding away when it seemed like you are happy when Oliver and you came back from Misty Loch?” Lutz lowered his shoulders and sighed, “It’s because of what you said, dad. Everything was fine and yet I still come back to you saying I was stubborn. Each time you say that or all those side comments about me, as if you’re disappointed each time I did something right. Then when I do something wrong, I get my ass chewed out by you.” Hearing this made Oliver’s words sink in harder and Alberich knew he had to hear it. “Am I…really that bad?” This made his son stop and look at him, “Yes! I’m sorry for being so blunt about it, but you’ve been shitting on everything I do, dad!” Lutz usually keeps how he feels quiet from his father, but right now, his emotions were still on the fritz from the other day. He couldn’t get past the thoughts in his head until he spoke out about it, “Each time I do something, I’m questioning it every time because it’s never enough for you! I’ve done everything right, yet I still get your disapproval about it! I’m not as multiskilled as Gilen or fast learner as Oliver but damn I try my hardest to impress you! Even if it’s not magic, it’s just being a decent person I get criticized for something!” Lutz stopped walking and looked at the other man, “Aren’t you proud me? Is there anything I do that makes you think ‘wow! Lutz is great at this’? What am I doing wrong, dad?”

Alberich listened to this and felt his heart sink; he was feeling regret now because he never heard this before. Lutz was a man who had a hard time expressing how he felt and mostly kept his negative emotions to himself. “Lutz…of course I’m proud of you. What kind of father isn’t proud of his talented son?” He felt shame as he looked at the water, “But I realize now that I’ve been going about it the wrong way. You shouldn’t be comparing yourself to your brother or to anyone, Lutz, because you have skills that they don’t. I admit I’ve been hard on you and was blind to how you perceived it…” He glanced up at his son, guilt and shame filled those tired green eyes, “For all this time, I thought I was doing good to boost up both Gilen and you; teach you everything I know and then some. But I didn’t realize my own words have made you feel like you haven’t improved in my view when it’s the complete opposite. You’ve grown into a strong man and even if your magic can be unpredictable, it’s amazing. Lutz, I love you….and I may not say as much, but I do love you and I couldn’t be prouder of you. I need to change…I want to change because I do not want to lose my youngest son due to my attitude. Help me; tell me what I need to do to make this better.” Lutz chewed on his bottom lip, feeling the sting of fresh tears in his eyes as he listened to his father. He didn’t think the old wolf would ever admit to his attitude, “Dad, I just want you to praise me more and show how proud of me. I know I’m stubborn, by all 6 gods, we all know how stubborn I am, but I don’t want to be continuously reminded. Show me something to encourage me more…it means a lot to me even if it’s the smallest ‘good job, son’. That’s all I ask.”

The two men finally broke down the wall they’ve had for a long time and Alberich had to pull his child into a hug. “I can do that. It will be hard to get pass my old ways, so be a little patient with me.” Lutz hugged him back and let his tears fall, “I can do that…thank you, dad….” The two of them hugged a little tighter then pulled back to see each other teary eyed. They continued their walk with Lutz speaking up, “This means a lot to me but what made you finally admit?” Alberich rubbed his eyes then folded his arms behind his back, “I had a certain pink bird explain to me about how you felt. I just realized my flaws and had to own up to them.” _Ollie…he’s too sweet for his own good…_ “Yea...I might have told him about how I feel lately while we were gone. I just didn’t think he would say anything…I owe him one.”

“As do I. But he does deserve an explanation as to why you’ve been keeping away from everyone, including him when he checks up on you.” His father replied as they turned to head back towards the steps back to the house with Khonr walking close behind. Lutz rubbed the back of his head, “I know…just give me a few hours in the workshop still. A little longer and I won’t be locked up in there for the next couple of days.” Alberich nodded, “Alright…this was a good talk, Lutz and again, I am truly sorry for the continuous ignoring of you…suppose it was because of my dad. Being the only son, he had among 3 sisters, he was the same – on my ass all the time because I had to be the best.”

“Grandfather was always the stern type. Made you look like a softie hehe…” His son replied, making Alberich give a half smile, “Yea, but he taught me some good life lessons while being that hard on me...” The two of them shared a chuckled as they headed up the steps, “Honestly, I did want to strive to be better with your brother and you, but I guess after what happened with your mother, I held in my softer side. I’m getting to an age now where I want to relax, be nice and get you all to move on to your own things.” Lutz agreed with that, “This means I want grandchildren, Lutz. I don’t care how you get them, I want them.” A blush came across his son’s face, “Dad! Seriously??”  The older man shrugged, “What? It’s true! I don’t care if you adopt them, I want to be a grand dad and spoil them.” They made it back to the house with Lutz blushing from embarrassment from his father’s abrupt demand. He shook his head then spoke, “Thanks for talking with me dad…I’m going to head back to the workshop now.” Alberich nodded and gestured that he can go now, “See you later at dinner, Lutz.” With that, the violet eyed man nodded, and his father headed back into the house to see Oliver peeking out the window. “No need to keep watch, your highness. We had our talk now.”

Oliver quickly turned again, “I-I know! I was just worried in case he didn’t speak to you. How did go?” He watched the older man go and pour himself some coffee again, making it glow to heat up the liquid again. “Better than I expected. You were right, he admitted to how he felt, and I gave him my views. We talked it out and we managed to come to a good compromise in the end.”

“Then where is he?”

Alberich sipped his drink, “He wanted a few more hours in the workshop but will return for dinner.” The prince relaxed, “Okay…at least he talked and that’s wall I wanted.” He smiled and looked at the window, “Hopefully, the tension can ease for him now.”  Back in the workshop, Lutz shut the door and plopped back into his chair, surprised that his father talked to him with such sincerity. It was all because of Oliver – the one person outside of the family that has gotten closer to them than any other person. Especially Lutz; he never let anyone get close like this and the prince did it without a problem. The last two days was nothing about his father but after the talk, it went straight to the pink prince _.  I’ve yelled, ignored, teased, and nearly attacked him but Oliver still turned around and was nice to me…what did I do to still deserve his kindness?_ Lutz went back to work, smiling more and more with the thoughts of the prince. That’s when he was hit with the realization, that he might be developing deeper feelings for him. He was falling for the prince; there wasn’t any doubt, because each time he was thinking of the other, Lutz’ heart skipped a bit. Stopping his work, the blond man leaned back and chuckled, “Fuck…I’m a fool...a fool falling in love and I don’t even know if he’ll accept it.” _We’ll just have to see later tonight…_

* * *

 

At sunset, Lutz returned to the house for dinner, as promised, seeing Oliver help his dad with dinner. It was good to have him back inside with them instead of hiding away; so, they all sat down eating and talking about the last few days for the violet eyed man to catch up. After food, a couple of mugs of ale, and a brief idea of tomorrow’s plans, the older Beilschmidt excused himself for the night. He told the two of them to clean up, then left to his room – Oliver was the one to get up and clean, “That was good. Gilen missed out on a very funny conversation hehe…” Lutz gathered the plates and cups, chuckling a bit, “I’m sure he’ll be caught up when he comes back.” Oliver nodded and while he was busy, the other man went over the cabinet and pulled something out. He was nervous as he watched the pink haired man finished up and headed towards the hall, “All done! I left my shoes in your room, so I’ll get those since I’m sure you’ll want to get to bed in your own bed.”

Lutz followed him, leaning against the door frame when they reach to the room, “I do. But why are you shoes in my room?”

The prince blushed, “Umm…well…Gilen said I can use it since you weren’t. I wasn’t going to, but I couldn’t get comfortable on the couch. I didn’t touch anything! Also, Savyla slept on the floor so she wouldn’t leave any fur on your blankets!” Lutz just chuckled and held up his free hand, “It’s okay, Ollie. I’m not mad – I just hope you were comfortable sleeping in someone else’s bed.” The prince’s blush became darker, “I was…” Lutz smiled, “Good. Also, I…have something for you…  
 Oliver was already picking up his boots when he perked up, “You do?” Lutz came into the room, shutting the door to give them some privacy, “Yea. I wasn’t going to stay in my workshop without doing anything to keep me busy.” He handed the other man a small box that was wrapped in some paper and tied by some twin. Oliver perked up and set the shoes down to grab the box, “What is it?”

“Open and find out.”

Oliver untied and open the paper to see a dark, mahogany box – on the sides there were intricate designs and on top were two winged rabbits on them. Each wing was detailed with feathers and the rabbits faces looked curious. “Oh Lutz…this is beautiful. Did you carve all of this?” Lutz nodded, “Yea…it’s one of the few things that I controlled my magic to use – I can turn the wood close into something like clay. The hinges are made of rock and to be honest, that was the hardest part to make. Look inside, there’s something else.” The prince got excited at the fact that there was another gift; he opened the box and gasped. He carefully pulled out a delicate necklace out of the small box – it was carved wolf’s head made from a light blue gemstone. It wasn’t heavy and felt cold in his hand, but it shined against the candlelight, “Oh, Lutz…it’s beautiful….” The Beilschmidt man gave a slight blush, “It’s a stone called larimar…the gems are used for magic and this one reminded me of your eyes. Plus, I know that you liked Khonr’s big, fluffy face and now you can have him with you all the time.”

Oliver smiled as he looked over his new gifts, but he was puzzled at why the other the other man made them. “Lutz, these are all beautiful but, I don’t understand…why did you make them? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate them, but I don’t feel like I deserved them.” The taller man sighed and looked off to the side, trying to find the right words. He stepped forward so the two of them were standing right in front of the other, then looked down at him, “Ollie…I made them because I’ve fallen for you. It’s not a new thing either – it’s been like this since you’ve been here. I’m just scared because you’re a royal and I’m…I’m just a scruffy man in the woods.”  Hearing this made the prince blush more, “Lutz… it doesn’t matter what you are, I like you for who you are.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t give me an answer…I... never mind this is really stupid and I’m just wasting your time.” Lutz felt even more nervous as he avoided looking at the floor; Oliver looked at his gifts and smiled, “Well, I do love the gifts and I can start to do more to show how much I appreciate it to their creator.” He set the gifts down into his boot then stepped forward so there were a few inches between the two men. “I also can start to show my feelings to him.” Lutz looked down at him, “Will you accept a stubborn wolf like me?” The smaller man nodded, “Of course I do, Lutz. I wouldn’t be standing this close to you if I didn’t.” Those violet eyes looked down at him and Lutz leaned in to give a small chaste kiss to the prince. It was the 2nd kiss he’s ever gotten, so Oliver’s heart was beating 10x faster again as he returned it. He felt how soft the other man’s lips were again, shivering when Lutz wrapped his arms around to pulled him up against the taught muscles. The prince was thrown off when the quick kiss turned into a long one with Lutz’ tongue licking Oliver’s lips. Remembering how he saw a few nobles at parties kissed, he opened his mouth, feeling the other’s tongue slip into dance with the prince’s.  The kiss lasted a coupled of minutes, with Lutz resisting the urge to grab Oliver’s butt. It’s been a long time since he had any intimate contact like this, but he had to respect boundaries, despite how good he felt right now.

The men pulled back to catch their breaths with Oliver’s face completely red when he covered his mouth for a second. “That…felt way different than any other kiss I’ve gotten or gave.” Lutz chuckled softly, “With me, I will give you plenty more of them whenever you want. “ The smaller man was being held by him and he was loving the contact of Oliver’s delicate hands against his chest. “So…does this make us lovers now?” Oliver asked, holding his cheek and having a nervous smile on his face. Lutz hummed and gave one of the sweetest smiles the prince has ever seen on the serious man. “We’re more than lovers, Oliver Kirkland. We’re boyfriends now and I promise to be the best one you’ve ever had.” That made Oliver giggled, “You’re my first boyfriend, Lutz.”

“Then I will be the best one that you won’t need another one!”  With a big laugh, Lutz felt lighter than he’s every been and excited. He was scared that he would be rejected by the other considering what they’ve been through the last couple of days. Lutz hugged the prince, who gave a hug in return, “Come lay in bed with me tonight. I don’t want to anything but lay together and talk until we fall asleep because I’m feeling a bit light headed, to be honest, heh…” Oliver smiled and held his hand, “I’m okay with that.”

Lutz kicked off his shoes and led the other man to his bed, letting the prince climb up onto the bed first before laying down himself. Oliver slowly moved to lay closer to him and he quickly moved the small man into a position where Oliver was cuddling up to him. The two of them just started talking about the gifts, about their day, and about how they discovered they liked each other more than friends. For Oliver, it was when the blond man was actually pretty nice in his rare moments and it grew since that first kiss he was given. For Lutz, it was probably from the beginning because  no matte what he did or saw, the prince still treated him nicely and cared for him when most would move on. They talked until the candle light finally went out and the two of them shared one more kiss before relaxing in each other's arms, not bothering with the blankets as they fell asleep for the night.


	7. Lighter than Air

 The next morning, Oliver was the first to wake up, nuzzling into Lutz' chest when his mind became clear and he saw the sleeping man cuddling him like a teddy bear. He felt content - the two of them didn't do anything but cuddled and talked until they finally crashed - but the prince felt happy. He was probably also longing for some kind of affection that wasn't from his mother or sister, but either way he was very content. The prince slowly sat up, looking at Lutz, who was snoring kind of loud, but it made Oliver giggled and remind him of a sleeping bear. He carefully pulled away and started to grab his boots and gifts, leaning in to plant a small smooch on the Beilschmidt man's cheek before quietly leaving. It was barely sunrise but being at the house for over a month now, the young man's biological clock started to get used to waking up so early. Changing into fresher clothes, Oliver slipped on his new necklace, running his fingers over the blue stoned wolf's head, "Who knew those large fingers of his can make something so delicate and intricate...it's amazing..."

"You should see what else I can do with them too." That husky voice made Oliver jump and see a half awake Lutz coming towards him. "S-Sorry, Lutz...did I wake up?"The pink man asked, blushing as his mind went straight towards more naughtier thoughts. This only made Lutz' chuckle, "No. I didn't feel the extra warmth that was clung to me and woke up to see what happened to it. Turns out he decided to sneak out before I had the chance to catch him." He came up to the smaller man and pulled him close, being careful not to touch anywhere but Oliver's hips - even though that made the prince shiver anyways because he wasn't used to it. "Sorry...I woke up and didn't want to bother you. Then I caught myself in the middle of staring at your handiwork on the necklace...it's just as beautiful as I saw it last night."

Lutz just smiled, "Wait until you see it in the sun. It will shine as bright as your eyes..." He pulled Oliver closer to him and the smaller mage was already a blushing mess, "Sorry for all the affection. I'm just in shock that you actually returned my feelings instead of rejecting me. I was pretty sure you were going to do the second option because of how much of an ass I've been..." The prince shrugged as he returned the affection with a hug, "Well, you weren't THAT bad...a big jerk, yes, but an ass? I've seen worse." The both of them chuckled and shared a quick kiss, but Lutz was hungry for more;he held Oliver's face and deepened the kiss, humming when he felt the smaller man shiver. _I want more...but I have to make it special..._ , Lutz thought, _he deserves to be treated like the prince he is but in my own way..._ The kiss lasted until the sound of Alberich clearing his voice made the couple flinch and quickly jump away from each other. "Well then, this is something I haven't see when waking up this early." Lutz and Oliver were both embarrassed and Oliver was the first to defend themselves, "Th-This is all a new thing for us but we swear we're not doing anything wrong but I-I understand if you're not happy sir! Please don't get mad! I-I'll leave as soon as it gets more light outside!" The older man just held up a hand to stop him, "Easy, easy, Oliver. I'm not going to kick you out for kissing; I was just not expecting it this early in my house." Alberich then came and ruffled Oliver's hair, making the prince stand there with a dumbfounded look. "Just treat each other nice and leave all the make out sessions to where you're alone." His son rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his own throat, "R-Right! Yea, we'll do that..."

"Great! Now make breakfast for us, Lutz! You missed your day of cooking so time to hop back into normal routines." The old Beilschmidt man replied as Lutz gave an embarrassed smiled at Oliver before nodding and heading into the kitchen to prepare food. As he cooked, the prince sat down with Alberich and showed the dad his new necklace which the older man admired and the two of them began on a conversation about how Lutz should work more with gemstones. Oliver found it amazing that the violet eyed man could mold a gemstone like it was clay; in return, Lutz was blushing and was glad he had his back turned so they wouldn't see his early morning blush.

After eating, everyone began their morning chores and Lutz had to get back into his morning routine after ignoring it for a couple of days. He gathered firewood, cleaned up the work shop, and now was gardening - a skill he learned from Oliver and never thought he would do. Luckily, Gilen wasn't here because his older brother loved to snicker about it until the blond man snapped - or their dad did. While digging a new patch of land for more crops, he stopped to look at the prince who was hanging their freshly washed clothes to dry. He was glad that his dad accepted their relationship; he could have sworn his dad would have told him it's bad because of the 'prince' status the other has, but no Alberich was pretty accepting about it. Now, the violet eyed man wanted to give Oliver a proper time out away from the house and other people - a more intimate time together. While watching Oliver, Lutz' eyes were on that cute butt of his as he walked back and forth from the clothes line to the basket, get your mind out of the gutter, Lutz. You know he's going to see you staring and find it uncomfortable...., he thought, sitting back onto his butt to think. "Hmm..." While sitting, the large man rubbed his chin, thinking for awhile until an idea popped into his head. "Ah! I got it!" Lutz put his a hand to the ground, letting his hand glow a soft purple - his magic slipped into the ground, making a slender vine grow and move toward Oliver then let it grow up until it reached high enough to tickle the back of prince's neck. "Gahh! Stop stop! HAhaha!" Oliver laughed and turned to see Lutz smiling and the vine withering back into the ground, "Lutz! That's not funny! I almost dropped this sheet!"

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself!" The larger mage replied, standing up, "But now that I have your attention, I want to ask you something."

Oliver pinned the sheet up and turned towards him, "Sure. What is it?" Lutz walked over to his boyfriend and looked down at him, "Are you busy this evening?" The prince thought for a moment, "No, not really. After this I promised your dad I will get back to my studies after I'm done with chores, and that usually goes until dinner." Lutz smiled more, "Good. Don't have dinner. I'm going to make dinner for the two of us and we're going to picnic somewhere I think you're gonna love." The prince hummed, wondering what special place the other man was talking about, "Okay, Lutz. It's a date then." They gave a each other a quick kiss and returned to their work, meanwhile Oliver was blushing and giddy. "Now I'm not going to focus on anything! I wonder what he had in mind..." He mumbled to himself as he got even more excited as his man ran through 101 ideas on what their date would be. He glanced at the half asleep Savyla, who perked up when her human per her had, "I have a date, Savy! I'm quite excited!" A purr came from the cat-hound, she then gave another nuzzled before laying back down and letting her master return to his work. Lutz was almost the same, but much more quiet about it as he went back to digging - Khonr sensed his master's excitement and nearly toppled the man to lick the back of his head. "Oi! I get it; you're happy! Now get down, ya over grown fur ball!"

The rest of the day seemed to stretch out far too long for either man. Oliver was excited to see what Lutz had up his sleeves and the violet eyed man was excited to show him his destination. But he was also extremely nervous- it's been a few years since he had a date like this and wanted everything to be perfect. By the late afternoon, he told his dad his plans and Alberich 'okayed' it with the usually dad thing of "have fun kiddo!" which made his son shake his head in embarrassment. At sunset, Lutz had a basket full of food, a folded up blanket and simple loose clothing on, "Are you ready, Ollie?" Oliver was at the sofa, fixing his boots and making sure his jewelry were secured then stood up, "Ready!"  

"Good. The place isn't far but it's way better at night then it is during the day. Trust me, you're going to love it." He replied, letting Oliver hold his free hand, "Alright, lead the way, Lutz~" With a finally goodbye and stay safe from Alberich, the two of them were off, heading towards the lake with their familiars padding alongside, "It's past the lake and only I can move the giant boulder blocking the way to it." Lutz said that proudly because he knows Gilen can barely move it an inc and his dad never tried anything he knew he couldn't do. The prince giggled,"How big is this rock?" Those violet eyed peered down him with excitement and love, "You'll see." With a wink the conversation was ended, but the two men continued their walk with their hands held together as the lake was out of sit and they were surrounded by trees. Night time was nearing and most animals have retired for the night, but Khonr and Savyla were more than awake sniffing about for any unlucky critter to be their dinner. They all came to a large wall of of stone and a huge mountain side that stretched far on both sides. "We're here." Oliver had to raise and eyebrow at Lutz, "Don't tell me we have to climb, Lutz. I don't think it's safe to do that at night."

The larger mage just chuckled, "Easy, hold you fire, Oliver. I have to 'open' the door - step back." Once Oliver stepped back, Lutz went up to the stone, and placed both hands on it - closing his eyes, he concentrated all his magic onto the stone and soon, old runes glowed from the ground and straight up to form the shape of a door. The stones began to move, causing the ground to shake as they opened - the pink haired man started in awe as he watched them move. It reminded him of how the palace doors opened but instead of a couple of men open the large doors it was one man alone. Lutz smiled when he finished, cracking his back and knuckles before looking at his boyfriend, "Come on. We're almost there." Oliver quickly looked at the animals and went to Lutz's side as they group walked into the cave, watching once more as the door sealed it's self once more. "Where are we?" Leading them down a rocky path, Lutz began to explain, "This used to be a busy place for all magical creatures, including humans, because of what's in the middle. But it was abandoned about fifty years ago so now, only those with elemental magic can open that hidden door." Soon, they stopped and Oliver's eyes went straight to the glowing tree that over looked a lake that reflected the glow. He felt the magic radiating through the cave which was warm, despite it being in a cold cave, "It's beautiful..."

"Yea...it's called a Blue Privet. Trees infused with magic to keep them permanently glowing and stay alive forever, unless someone chops it down. But for the past few years I've kept it pretty safe....I kept it like this because I wanted to bring someone special here and since you really love plants and such I figured you'll want to see this." The violet eyed man replied, blushing and rubbing the back of his head - Oliver never saw such a beautiful plant in his life. "Lutz, I love it! It's almost like something out of a dream.~" He kissed Lutz' cheek and they continued down until they were standing under the intricate branches; both touched the trunk of the tree and felt the energy flowing through it, then began to spread out the blanket while the animals explored the empty cavern, hoping to find a bat or lizard to play with.

Lutz decided on a meal that he considered 'fit for a prince' - wine, cheese, dried meat, biscuits, grapes, and figs. Pouring a glass of wine, he spoke again, "I hope you don't mind the easy meal. Dad let me take one of the wines and have the figs - those are Gilen's favorite but dad let us have them." Oliver giggled and took the glass, waiting for the other man to pour his own glass,"Well then, a toast! To your dad letting us have the figs and to us~" The larger man nodded and raised his glass,"I'll drink to that!" He chuckled and sipped his drink, watching his boyfriend do the same then began to grab a piece of cheese, "How did you know I liked all of these foods,Lutz?" A small scoff came from the larger man,"You're a prince, right? Last time I checked, a lot of nobles and royals love to eat this stuff. I just figured you would too..." He knows me too well, the prince thought, shrugging, "You're not wrong. I do love these foods - usually they're saved for a special occasion."

"Is this not a special occasion?" Lutz asked, raising an eyebrow but still smiling. The other man blushed, "Of course it is!" Lutz chuckled,loving how easy it was to make the pink hair man blush with his little antics. "You're easy to read, Ollie. But it's okay, it means I can relax knowing you're not going to end up coming out as a some creature disguised as a human." he laughed as Oliver rolled his eyes while sipping his wine, "Now you're just being silly, Lutz! I'm a human!" The violet eyed man hummed, "Yes, but sometimes I think you're a siren trying to woo me with your good looks and soft voice." The prince rolled his eyes, now with permanent blush on his cheeks as they hate their easy dinner. As they ate, the two men became much comfortable with each other's company as they looked out at the cavern lake, not having to worry about anyone sneaking around to catch them."So, why did we have to wait till night time to see this cavern,Lutz?" Oliver asked finishing off the last of the grapes. 

The larger mage pointed up to a large opening that showed off the starry night sky, "That's why. The moonlight makes it look even more magical and you can see the glowing better when it's dark." Oliver stared up, his eyes reflecting the faint blue glow of the moon and tree. "I've...never seen the stars so beautiful..." Lutz looked at the other man instead of the sky, admiring how beautiful the prince was instead. He's never fell so hard for anyone until now - before, Lutz would hook up with someone for sex but didn't feel any deeper feelings. Either that or the people were picky and didn't want anything but a quick fuck, making the Beilschmidt man build his walls higher and thicker. But then liver came and slowly started to tear down those walls with little effort; but it was okay, he allowed it to happen. "You're the most beautiful one here, Ollie." The prince looked down and tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, "You're being too kind, Lutz." Lutz shook his head and cleaned up the empty plates, placing them back into the basket, "I'm being honest,Oliver." He finished picking up everything and scooted closer, taking the prince's hands, kissing his fingers, "You're the most beautiful person I've ever met. Both sweet inside and out...it's no wonder people like your company so much. But most of all,"Lutz leaned in so their noses nearly touched,letting violet orbs get lost in a sea of blue, "you change lives.My family has never been this social in a long time and despite my stubbornness I truly do love it." Oliver smiled, "Lutz...that means a lot to me...I don't know what else to say..."

"You don't to say anymore."The larger man replied, kissing him again - Oliver returned the kiss, letting Lutz pull him closer until their chests touched. They had another make out session, with Oliver doing his best to return them, but allowed Lutz to take control of the kissing. The blond man kissed the prince's chin then began a trail of kisses down the smaller one's neck, receiving a gasp, "Hehe...that was cute..." Oliver pouted a bit at the comment, "No it wasn't....you know I haven't done this before..." 

"Oh I know. It's why I'm going to take my time and enjoy it." Lutz replied, kissing around Oliver's neck then down to to is collarbone, hearing soft whimpers from the smaller male. He then suckled at the base of the prince's neck, leaving a small hickey. "That felt weird...!" Oliver gasped, pulling back to look at Lutz' face, seeing a bright smile from the other,"It's a hickey, Ollie. If you don't like anything, please tell me." The smaller man wiggled a bit, "You can...umm...continue with the kisses..." The violet eyed man nodded, "Yes, my prince." He pulled the smaller male closer again and continued to kiss around Oliver's neck, but stopped again, "I can only continue if you let me..." He gestured to the prince's loose shirt, watching Oliver perk up, hesitated and think,"I...umm...I don't mind..." Lutz nodded, getting excited that he finally gets to see what the other man looked under those hand-me-down clothes. He helped Oliver pull off his shirt, gazing at the pale, slender body and the cute pinkish nipples; _cute, and slender with very little muscle...just as I predicated_. "Do you not eat enough? You so skinny." Lutz teased,rubbing his thumbs against the smaller man's hips, "Hey! I do eat! I'm just a slender person!" A chuckled came from the elemental mage,"I didn't mean to offend you, love. I just find it very cute like the rest of you." He then moved then so Oliver was laying down and he was above the prince, attacking his neck again with more kisses. He then moved further down to kiss down Oliver's chest, hearing the soft whimpers, then began to suckle on a nipple; it made Oliver gasp and hold back a small moan. The prince always imagined how that felt but didn't realize how sensitive his body would be with it. Lutz suckled on one nipple while playing with the other, then switch around, feeling the small body twitch beneath his own - he then began to kissed down Oliver's chest, belly, then around his hips. The more the larger man continued, the more Oliver felt his blood rush down to his body and felt his member get hard, making him want to touch himself to relieve. He never got so turned on so fast before, and all he can do his tried to distract himself, "Lutz...i-it's not...fair that I have my shirt off and you don't...."

Lutz stopped and smiled, "Of course." He leaned back to let Oliver get a good view of him as he pulled off his shirt, watching as the prince's eyes widen, "Ehehe, like what you see?" Oliver stared at the muscular man - every muscle was perfectly shaped from years of hard work. He never really took the time to look at Lutz, even when there were times that he did work without a shirt, but now Oliver was liking how muscular Lutz really was. "Y-Yes..." He was wrapped into a hug, "Good, because it's okay to touch." The prince blushed and hesitated before moving his hands up to gently run them over the other man's chest and stomach, feeling Lutz' twitch from it. "Years of hard work paid off, huh?" 

 Oliver didn't answer the question but when he averted his eyes, the larger mage knew the answer was a positive. Lutz went back to kissing his boyfriend's neck, laying him back down on the blanket - the then leaned up to bring him back from a deep kiss. As the kissed,Oliver melted and relaxed, testing the waters by gently grinding into the other, making the violet eyed man grunt through the kiss. He tried again with a harder grind, feeling the large bulge get hard against his own. "Ollie...doing that is going toward dangerous places..." Oliver smiled shyly, "I know...I..want more but I don't know what else to do."  _Fuck..._ , Lutz pulled back,finally being allowed to have all of the prince's body to himself now. "I'll take care of you and be as gentle as I can be..." He kicked off his shoes, letting the other man do the same and then helped the prince out of the last piece of clothing he was wearing, gazing at the slender, slightly tanned body and the slightly hard small member. "You're just as gorgeous without clothes as you are with them on, love." Oliver blushed and watched as Lutz stripped, his eyes going from his violet eyes down his body and to stare at the well endowed member. "Oh my gods..."

"Hehehe...you're right! I am well gifted down there from them and it's all yours, Ollie." Lutz slightly teased, leaning down and gently pulling the prince's hand down to touch his thigh. "Go head and touch..." The pink haired man hesitated before slowly moving his hand onto the large member, feeling the weight, warmth and girth of it. He stroked it, making Lutz groan, "Looks like someone hasn't touched you in awhile either,huh?" Oliver asked, seeing Lutz nod, "Y-Yea..." He let Oliver continue a few more strokes before pulled back and digging in the basket, pulling out a little green vial."This is a salve, I'm going to use it to prep you,okay? Just stay as relaxed as much as you can,..." Lutz was nervous, not wanting to hurt the other man - so he put a generous amount of liquid on his fingers then positioned himself in between the prince's legs. He lifted on of the slender legs and watched Oliver the entire time as he slowly slipped one finger into the other, "Nngh..!" Oliver winced a bit, forgetting how weird this felt when he played with himself; ut with the other man's larger fingers, it was a newer feeling. "Good, you're doing good...I'm putting another in.." Lutz cooed at the other,adding a second finger and watching the prince whimper and groan. He moved his fingers in and out, watching the smaller body twitch and squirm - to distract the other man, Lutz started stroking Oliver's member, hearing the muffled moans. "You don't have to hide your sounds, love. They sound lovely...~" Lutz continued, watching the prince groan, "I'm embarrassed at..nngh..how they sound..." The violet eyed man chuckled softly, pushing the fingers slightly deeper, causing Oliver to yelp out a moan, "Hehe...think you're ready now?" The blue eyed man, red as an apple in the face, slowly nodded,"I-I think so..."

Holding back on his own pleasure for Oliver's, Lutz's member was aching for more attention, feeling it twitch, but he knew he couldn't quickly go at it like a horny wolf. "Good..." He slowly took his fingers out, using more salve to place around his member and Oliver's opening, wiping them before positioning himself. "I'll go slow....let me know to stop if it hurts too much..." Oliver gave a small 'okay' then, watching shyly as Lutz began to slowly push inside him, causing him to gasp and grab the blanket. The deeper Lutz push, the more the prince was stretch and whimpered with a slight teary eye, making the larger man stop halfway,  _fuck he's tight...there's no way those damn rumors about him sleeping around were true with how tight his ass is..._ , "Want me to stop?" Oliver shook his head, "No! I just..give me a second.." He carefully adjusted himself to get more comfortable, "Okay, you can continue..." Lutz nodded and began to push deeper into him, making the smaller man's body arch and him letting out a gasp when the fully large member was sheathed in warm tightness."Fuck, you're tight...heh..." He chuckled, watching the other close his eyes then back at him before slowly moving in and out of him. The prince whimpered and groaned, not realizing how large the other man was until he kept pushing into him; with each thrust, he did his best to get used to it and ignore the pain of being stretched out. Meanwhile, Lutz was going so slow, it was unbearable considering he was not used to being very slow with sex - he wanted to go way faster but didn't want to harm Oliver. Oliver began to like the thrusts, but it wasn't making him climax, and he saw the strenuous look on the large mage. "Lutz...you can..move faster if you want." That made Lutz happy, so he quickly moved the prince's arms up to wrap around his next, grabbed that cute ass and began hiis faster thrusts. It caused Oliver to moan and gasp as he clung to his boyfriend, wrapping his legs around his waist; his body wasn't used to such pleasure, that with the thrust, and Lutz starting to attack his neck with kisses, it sent an ecstatic shock through his small body.

 The more Lutz moved, the more he was graced with moans from the prince and himself, making him want to claim the other more. He loved the way Oliver tightened around his member and the way he nearly scratched at his back - all of it just turned him on more and he was enjoying. Lutz needed some kind of stress reliever and sex was the best way, but it was so long since he had sex, so this was 2 years of frustration coming out. Now that Oliver was used to him, he wanted to switch it up; so, he stopped, pulled out of the prince and rolled him over. "What are you doing..?" Oliver asked, looking confused and a bit hazy from the new body experience, "Another position to get your best climax... sit on your hand and knees." The larger mage replied, watching as the prince did just that, letting him get a full view of that cute, royal butt that is gonna be his. He then positioned himself once again, grabbed Oliver's hips and pushed back into him, making Oliver yelped in surprise, "Sorry about that, love." He replied, starting to thrust back into the prince's ass again, this time, he was biting his shoulder to distract Oliver from any pain. As he continued, Lutz stroked the other man's member, wanting to give him the best pleasure as possible - it made Oliver crumble into a ball of moans, gasps, and grabbing the blanket. "Oh gods...! Ahh...nngnh..L-Lutz...a-any more and I'm going to nngh..." He knew what was going to happen, "I know, love...I'm close too..." A few more thrusts, Lutz felt his climax nearing, so he gave his final thrusts enough vigor to hit that sweet spot, causing Oliver to scream out and climax - the violet eyed man climaxed just about the same time with grunts of his own. Once it was done, Lutz took a moment to slowly pull out and just lay on top of the prince, nuzzling into his neck. "I..might of over done it... sorry about that." Oliver, who was on such a pleasure high that his body was still twitching, just nuzzled back, "No...for my first time at sex, it's going to be a memorable one...hehe...that felt amazing..."

"Better than playing with yourself, huh?"

Oliver rolled his eyes, "Way better...you're experience at it huh?" Lutz wiggled away to lay on the blanket and Oliver was ontop of him, "It's not my first time, but it is my best. But now this cute butt of yours is mine." He replied, while grabbing the prince's sore butt, making the smaller man blush, "Yes, but don't be telling the whole world about it!" Oliver felt Lutz's naked body shake from laughing, making him smile and leaned down to kiss Lutz, "Hey, you big jerk, I think I just might love you..." This made Lutz' heart skip a beat, "I think I just might love you too, Pinkie..." They shared a long kiss, relaxing in each others arms for while until their legs didn't feel like jelly. Unaware of the time, the men slowly started to gather their clothes, but before putting them on, they took a dip in the cold cavern lake to clean off cum and sweat before dressing. Lutz whistled for the animals to come back, in which Khonr came running through a tunnel and Savyla padding quietly behind him - with one more kiss the group headed back home, completing their date night with a long deep kissing under the moonlight before heading back in the house to crash on the bed.

* * *

The following morning, Oliver woke up to birds chirping, and still hazy from his fun night. It didn't hit him what that actually did until he sat up and felt his whole body ache from being held or fucked for the first time. The prince smiled, looking at his necklace then at the snoring man beside him - he then leaned down to kiss Lutz' scar on his cheek then down to his neck. It made the large man hum and softly groan, then wake up, "Keep doing that and you'll start something..." He softly mumbled, smiling when Oliver pulled back to smile back at him, "You kept doing it and I liked it. I wanted to see if it worked on you as well." Lutz chuckled and yawned,"Not as much as you but it's a nice way to wake up." He stretched, hearing his bones crack or pop and perked up when Oliver climbed up onto to him to smiled down at him,"I slept good last night...I dreamed nothing but us and having fun again...last night was one of the best nights I've ever had and it was thanks to you, Lutz."

Lutz just gave a sleepy smile,"You're very welcome. It was one of my favorites too...I feel like I have a new purpose in life now."

"Oh? And what is this purpose?" Oliver asked, blushing when Lutz moved a hand up to curl a piece of pink hair behind his ear,"Protecting and love you. I feel like a big weight off my shoulders because of you helping me with everything really and can never thank you enough, Ollie." The prince blushed more and hid his face "Lutz! Your words are too kind! I think I want your teasing again!" The violet eyed man just gave a big laugh, hugging Oliver as the smaller man buried his face into his chest. He then took the opportunity to grab that plump little butt, making Oliver gasp, "E-Easy there! It's still sensitive!" 

A smirk came from the larger man, "Oh I know." He continued to massage Oliver's butt, getting very close to the prince's crotch, making him moan softly. "Lutz...nngh..you're teasing to much..." Lutz continued his gentle massaging, slipping a hand over the prince's crotch, feeling him already get hard,"Very sensitive still, huh? We can go another round..." Lutz replied, nibbling Oliver' neck, loving the stifled moans from the smaller man,"but you'll have to be quiet..." Oliver knew he wouldn't be able to leave this room until his hard on was gone, so he whispered back, "Fine...but don't make it so rough.." With that, they stripped off their clothes once more and made love on the bed with Oliver keeping as quiet as possible - but it was hard when Lutz now knew exactly how to get the best moans from the prince. 

By the time they finished, sunrise passed and Oliver's neck and shoulders were littered with marks from his lover. "You are like an animal with that biting!" He exclaimed as he cracked his back and began to get dressed again, wincing each time he bent over to grab his clothing. Lutz just smiled, "Only for you, love." Oliver just rolled his eyes, tossing the other man's clothing back to him, "Get dressed, you dork." The two of them were dressed, nothing to bathe later, then went to make breakfast - where Alberich was already awake and making food. "Did you two enjoy yourselves?"

Oliver blushed and exchanged a look with Lutz, "Yea, it was really fun!" 

"Oh good, because I can smell the sex on you two." The older man glanced back his son and his boyfriend - who were both blushing and looking slightly horrified - then burst up laughing. "Calm down! Nothing wrong with having a bit of fun like that! If Lutz really is like me, he must have been quiet the rough _animal_ in bed, like me!" Alberich laughed even more as the other two were extremely embarrassed,turning back to finish cooking up their meal. "Okay,okay. I've had my fun now, I'll hush up."  Oliver cleared his throat and saw Lutz slightly glare and whisper, "I swear I'm gonna beat up that old bat..." They remained quiet until food was bought to the table and the men started to eat; and by all grace of the gods, Alberich changed the subject to about the glowing tree, giving a brief history about it to the prince. They finished their meals and sat there talking with their coffee when Gilen came home,looking rather tired and conflicted. "Ahh, good morning and welcome back home, Gilen. How was you trip to Sheston?"

The white haired man sighed and dropped his back, then went to pour himself a large cup of coffee, sitting down with them. "For the most part,I sold all of Lutz' stuff he made." He placed a large pouch of coins onto the table, "But that was the only good thing that happened. But it's no joke about those royal guards - over a month and they're still trying to find Oliver here and tried to throw every mage they came across into jail until they confessed." Oliver grimaced, shaking his head, "That is ridiculous! I didn't know anyone else besides one of the special guards and even then he was nice enough to hide my secret. My dad may be an ass sometimes, but he wouldn't do such a thing like this."

Gilen sipped at his coffee,"That's the thing, Oliver." He glanced at the prince, his red eyes looking straight at him, making the prince straighten up, "When I was there, people were confused by it as well. Allister may not liked mages, but he wouldn't do this witch hunt to find one of them. So I stayed longer to get more information about what was happening in the palace."

Lutz raised an eyebrow, "And? What information did you obtain?"

"Beside another shit load of things happening, the major one is: King Allister is dead."

 


End file.
